Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

We would all like the decisions to be made in an expeditious manner, but we are not the author of our own destiny when it comes to the ability of people to take judicial review applications to the High Court. Sometimes this happens after a decision is made by every agency involved in the process. In the interim, we must provide the accommodation as required.

There are 96 nationalities spread over the 60 locations in which people are housed. It must be said that any review of those locations indicates a good quality of accommodation. There will always be queries, especially when we deal with 96 nationalities. However, the UNHCR has indicated clearly that it is happy with the accommodation available. The accommodation is one the best provided in the OECD. We try to keep costs down as much as possible. The average daily cost in one of the seven State owned accommodation centres is €21. The average daily cost in one of the 53 commercially provided centres is €31. The Deputy should be complimenting the Government for reducing the costs, yet still providing high quality accommodation, food and so on.

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