Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister stated these centres are run by contractors and operators. They are commercial bodies contracted to the State to carry out a service. He also stated they have to achieve a balance because the centres act as a home for the people who live in them.

The Minister will recall the case just before Christmas in the Knockalisheen accommodation centre on the outskirts of Limerick city when a lady, Donnah Vuma, was denied a slice of bread and a glass of milk for a sick child in the middle of the night. The operator-contractor ultimately apologised for how she was treated. Several days before the incident, the lady in question was asked to share a platform with the President, Michael D. Higgins, at an event to promote good relations with the immigrant community and integration. There is the dichotomy of her sharing a platform with the President on one particular day and then, at the reception centre, being denied a slice of bread and a glass of milk for a sick child because it was late at night. As well as having to provide security for people living in reception centres, is the Minister satisfied these contractors are treating people humanely and decently? This case highlighted a real fall in standards. Is the Minister happy it was just an isolated case or were there other cases of which we have not heard? We heard of this particular case because the lady in question communicated it to the public at large through Facebook and the media picked it up. Are there other cases like this that we need to be concerned about?

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