Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the inspection regime, HIQA is being asked to do a great deal of things at this time. For instance, as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I asked it to examine child protection teams, what the benchmarks should be and the progress that needs to be made. That progress is under way. I am not sure HIQA is necessarily the right body for what the Deputy is proposing, but I understand where he is coming from. I will ask my officials to examine the issue to see whether any additional safeguards can be built into the direct provision inspection regime, with particular regard to children in the system.

In regard to the timetable for progress, I will be reviewing the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill in the coming weeks and will make a decision quite soon as to whether we can move on the protection procedure as a first step. There will be different views on whether we should do that or whether it should continue to be integrated into the larger immigration Bill. I wish to make sold progress on this matter within the timeframe the Deputy outlined. Moving away from the current multi-layered structure could, on its own, be an important initiative from a legislative point of view in order to deal with the issues we are discussing here today.

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