Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been much comment in recent weeks and years about the system of direct provision. There has also been debate about the location of centres. I appeal to everyone to ensure this debate is thoughtful, respectful and factual, just as the Deputy's contribution was. Under EU and international law, Ireland, like other countries, is obliged to examine the claim of any person who comes here and claims international protection or asylum under defined grounds, such as a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, caste, nationality, religion, political opinions and membership of or participation in any particular social group or social activities. While that claim is being examined, the State is legally obliged to offer accommodation and related services to anyone without means, including all meals, medical care and utilities. A weekly personal allowance is paid to each person in a centre and exceptional needs are covered by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. There is no obligation on any asylum seeker to accept the offer of accommodation and no restriction on their freedom of movement throughout the State.

I understand concerns have been raised by people in Oughterard. This is the latest such case as other communities have also raised concerns. Local communities have genuine questions. Where centres have opened in new locations, the Department has engaged with communities, addressed questions and supported communities in establishing links to new centres. I know people are unhappy that there are rumours, on the one hand, and a lack of information, on the other hand, in many cases but until the legal process is complete, the Department of Justice and Equality is somewhat restricted in what it can say. This has caused a lot of problems.

Direct provision was introduced 20 years ago, as the Deputy said, to deal with a situation where asylum seekers were effectively homeless. Any credible alternative put forward must be capable of providing immediate access to food, shelter and medical care to vulnerable people, as the direct provision model does. Since its inception, more than 60,000 people have been helped by the direct provision system. There are positive relationships between residents and local communities in areas where centres are already open in the State, including through friends of the centre groups, which promote integration between communities. That being said, direct provision is not ideal but we have to be honest too. People who advocate simply doing away with direct provision also have an obligation to outline what we should replace it with. We have a shortage of housing in the areas of social housing, affordable housing and rental accommodation. We will fix that and I am glad to say that supply in all of those categories is increasing rapidly. We also have significant increases in the number of people claiming asylum in Ireland and we need to ensure we can protect them and offer them shelter and support. Although we need to ensure standards across all the direct provision centres are sufficient, consistent and above a certain threshold, for now direct provision is the way to do this. However, we need to be open to change and to adapting that model to improve it in time.

See this speech in context