Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is what I hear. Basic services such as laundry facilities, access to healthcare, nappies and baby formula are not being provided in some of these places.

The deputy secretary general in the Department of Justice and Equality has admitted that the use of accommodation was sub-optimal as it is not possible to impose standards in the same way as in direct provision centres. I was told by somebody in Fáilte Ireland recently that many of these centres are still registered as hotels with Fáilte Ireland, which is causing another problem in regard to inspections and so on. In addition, it is three times the cost of keeping someone in direct provision.

The experience of those living in direct provision centres also leaves much to be desired. I appreciate national standards for accommodation were published in August 2019. It is unfortunate it took so long to do that and that these standards will not be legally binding, which they should be, and they should also be subject to monitoring.

There are currently 770 people living in direct provision who have been adjudicated as having valid claims for asylum. They cannot move out of direct provision as there is nowhere for them to move to due to the failure of the Government to supply social housing units to support vulnerable families and individuals. This also applies to many Irish people, who cannot get their own homes. Asylum seekers are spending far too long in the system which was designed in 2000 to be a short-term, interim provision. Some 35% of people living in direct provision have been in the system for more than three years. Increased resources are needed for the hearing of asylum applications and appeals. This will reduce the delays experienced by people waiting on a final decision, which will mean less time spent in direct provision. Ireland has a moral, legal and political imperative to examine the claim of any person who comes here and claims asylum under defined grounds, which is important.

I want to turn to specific issues. On the right to work, following a decision of the Supreme Court that ruled that laws banning asylum seekers from working were unconstitutional, the Government introduced a procedure to enable asylum seekers to access the workplace. The restrictions placed on this right are far too burdensome and need to be looked at. Furthermore, the inability of asylum seekers to obtain a driver's licence impacts on this right and this needs to be examined.

Access to third level education is also an important issue that needs to be reformed. Residents of direct provision are entitled to have access to primary and second level but they are required to pay non-EU fees if they wish to attend third level. I spoke recently to the principal of a primary school that had four new children and the principal made the point these children needed extra help, support and resources, which are not available. We need to look at that as well as at third level. This needs to change and, at the very least, the residency requirements should be reduced from five years to three.

The need for consultation with communities is important. Proper consultative mechanisms should be put in place with communities in advance of decisions to open direct provision centres in an area. Locals often have genuine concerns about the ability of the area to serve additional people and these should be openly addressed, for example, in regard to GP availability, school places and so on. The secretive way the Department of Justice and Equality approaches the tendering process heightens concerns and must be addressed. Both asylum seekers and communities must feel they are being supported by the State.

I want to refer to playing politics with asylum issues. Immigration has never been a party-political issue in Ireland, nor should it be, but sadly we see that creeping in. It is important that all discussions on the challenges that Ireland and Europe face with immigration are held in a respectful and factual manner. The Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, called recently for a national debate on asylum seekers but I have seen no sign of him coming into the Dáil for this national debate, even though we are representing the people who are coming to us and talking to us about their issues and concerns. The Taoiseach's comments in the Irish Independentlast week, in effect blaming migrants from Albania and Georgia with fake documents for the rise in the numbers seeking asylum, were bizarre and, as the Immigrant Council of Ireland has described it, "clumsy at best". Those comments were very unfair. The comments made by Deputy Grealish in this House this week and at a previous open forum meeting are certainly very questionable. His figures on money leaving this country have been proved factually incorrect and I believe he was wrong. There is an onus on all of us to show leadership in this regard. The Government must handle our international responsibilities in a far more open and consultative manner, given recent events in Moville, Oughterard, Ballinamore and Achill, as well as the arson attack on Deputy Martin Kenny's car.

As a country, Ireland has done well in avoiding the far-right agenda of "them" versus "us". Politicians and the media have all played a role in ensuring this and we need to continue to do that.

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