Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I repeat what I said before: for every hungry belly, there is a pair of hands and a brain, which is quite obvious. The limiting of the right to work by the State for people in the direct provision system is quite shocking. Most of the parents want to work to be able to independently provide their children with accommodation that does not include a communal bathroom shared with grown men and women. It means entire families would not have to share rooms with other families and that different genders would not have to share the same room. Children are often exposed to violence and sexual behaviour. The long stay in direct provision accommodation and the confined space have led to an increase in mental health problems and depression among the children. Therefore, there are two concerns. The first relates to how the adults are deprived of the right to rear their families with dignity and the ability and freedom to work and rent their own homes. The deprivation of the adults is leading to a litany of problems. I do not have time to go through all of them, but the recent report by the Refugee Council of Ireland is shocking. Unless the Minister of State does not believe it, he has to take the report seriously.

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