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

I thank Deputy Pringle. The Government announced in its Statement of Government Priorities 2014-2016 that there would be an independent working group established to report to it on improvements to the protection process, including direct provision, and supports for asylum seekers. I hope to be in a position very shortly to announce a chairman for the group. The Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, and I have asked the working group to report very shortly. This is not a long-term working group. We would like to have a report from it within three to four months.

When I met representatives of the non-governmental organisations, NGOs, last week, we made the point that we want a focus on recommendations that can improve the system in the short, medium and longer term. That will be in parallel with the process of working on the legislation to introduce the single procedure. The terms of reference are to consider what improvements can be made in the system, and the working group will comprise NGOs and representatives of Departments. There will be a mixture of NGOs and statutory bodies. We held the round-table discussion last week with a view to discussing and informing the terms of reference of that working group and seeing what the NGOs, in particular, felt should be the terms of reference. Within a matter of two or three weeks we will name the chairperson and announce the terms of reference of the working group. I expect it will report towards the end of this year or the early part of next year. It is a three to four month project and it is not something we want to take years.

This is about focusing on the direct experience of NGOs, their suggestions for direct provision and what steps can reasonably be taken to improve the conditions under which people are living, while at the same time being realistic, as I have been today. I am warning about unrealistically high expectations about changing the system overnight. This is about accommodation for 4,500 people and the direct provision centres were originally put in place because of a homeless crisis, with 9,500 people arriving in the country with no place for them to stay.

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