Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter. I question the reason the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, is treating asylum seekers and the citizens of Kiltimagh, County Mayo, so badly. Inadequate provision has been made for the young male asylum seekers who come to Kiltimagh. The people of Kiltimagh have been let down. The citizens of Kiltimagh have always welcomed visitors to their town, not least asylum seekers, whom they welcomed with open arms. Several families who came to this small rural town in County Mayo were made feel very welcome as members of the community. They quickly integrated with the local community and took part in all the activities and the children attended the schools. They have become part and parcel of the place. The proof of this integration was when the entire community banded together to support a family threatened with deportation. Some members of the community accompanied the family when they were deported to the UK and stayed with them to support them.

The centre for asylum seekers in Kiltimagh was reclassified from family to single person accommodation in January 2006. The centre consists of two buildings, the Railway Hotel and an annexe located on the opposite side of the road. It was intended to place males in one building and females in the other. Following further consideration, the reception and integration agency agreed recently that the families residing at the Kiltimagh centre will be allowed to remain there until at least the end of the current school year. However, arrangements were made to allow for the accommodation of some males at the centre.

I refer to a reply from the Minister to a parliamentary question asked last month which stated that the RIA would initially make up to ten placements in the annexe at this location and would monitor the arrangement on an ongoing basis. At present there are more than ten young males staying at the annexe. There were eight and six more arrived in the past two weeks, a total of 14. People are concerned that this number of ten has already been exceeded. The street where both facilities are located, James Street, is home to at least 14 elderly persons and many widows and widowers. A psychiatric outreach community facility accommodating psychiatric patients is also on the same street. There are fire safety questions about the Railway Hotel and the annexe. The effect of bringing so many single males into the street is seriously questioned. The maximum number of ten people staying in the annexe has been exceeded and it is feared this number will be exceeded to a greater degree.

Why are reception centres being closed in places such as Limerick, where there are many facilities, and this centre remains open with single men living in a street in a rural town which lacks the facilities they require. It is almost as bad for those men as if they were in prison. They deserve better. They cannot work and they receive less than €20 a week. All they can do is walk up and down on the street. It is not fair to them. They came to this country to get help from us, yet we treat them like this. It is not right.

The Minister stated that discussions took place with local community groups, but minimal discussions took place and the people of Kiltimagh have experienced difficulties communicating with the RIA. The Minister's reply contains a threat that the centre may be closed if the new category of asylum seeker is not accepted as this would have economic consequences for the town of Kiltimagh. The accommodation centre is of little relevance to the local community from an economic point of view. The centre is owned by a company based in County Kildare. Only one of the employees lives in the Kiltimagh area and the others live elsewhere or are non-nationals. There are no local suppliers of produce or services to the centre.

From a Kiltimagh perspective, unless the clients accommodated in the centre are acceptable to the local residents and contribute to the way of life in Kiltimagh, the centre should be closed. The local community would prefer it to close than accommodate single people in such large numbers. It is not conducive to the proper development of the town and is upsetting the balance of the community. The Kiltimagh community is welcoming and families with children have integrated with it. However to inject so many single men into a community that has nothing for them is unfair on the men and on the community. I hope the Minister will examine this situation. He has said the community would accommodate ten people and that it would be monitored, but there was no monitoring and in a short space of time the numbers exceeded ten. I ask the Minister to explain the position.

Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers and currently has a portfolio of 65 centres across the State for this purpose. To address the reduction in numbers and the change in profile of asylum seekers, the RIA embarked on a programme of downsizing its accommodation portfolio. The Kiltimagh centre has accommodated 80 asylum seekers in the recent past. The number in the centre today is approximately half of this figure. The Deputy should note that the RIA has, since its inception, reclassified centres as circumstances require as a normal part of its operations.

The ongoing RIA downsizing saw the closure in 2005 of 15 centres with a combined capacity of 833 beds. To date in 2006, four centres with a combined capacity of approximately 270 beds have been closed and further closures and reclassifications are planned. Overall, the current downsizing has led to the closure of two accommodation centres in County Mayo. Only two centres now remain in County Mayo, one in Kiltimagh and the other in Ballyhaunis.

The RIA considered the centre in Kiltimagh suitable for possible reclassification from family to single person accommodation. As part of the reclassification of this centre the RIA intended to relocate its families to other centres where they could benefit from special facilities for children and young people which have been put in place, including pre-school facilities for very young children. However, following discussions, the RIA agreed that the families with school going children who currently reside at the centre would be allowed to remain there at least until the end of the current school year.

The Kiltimagh centre consists of two buildings, the Railway Hotel and an annex, which is located across the road. The RIA has, thus far, allocated a total of 17 males to this building. The Minister never promised, as the Deputy has alleged, that a maximum of ten male asylum seekers would be sent to Kiltimagh. If the Deputy had cared to check the replies to the numerous questions the Minister recently answered on this topic, he would have seen that the Minister said: "the RIA will shortly make up to ten placements in the annex at this location and will monitor the arrangements on an ongoing basis". That is what was done and, having done so, the RIA has only moved this week a further six male asylum seekers to the centre. The ages of these asylum seekers vary from early 20s to over 40. The RIA has also moved two female asylum seekers to the centre.

The reception and integration agency will continue to monitor the situation in Kiltimagh. There are no reports of difficulties arising. However, the reality is that the State must be in a position to accommodate single asylum seekers and must use its existing accommodation for this purpose. If the State determined that the Kiltimagh centre was not suitable for this purpose it would have no choice but to withdraw from the contract. This would result in the loss of 16, mostly full time, jobs at that centre. I am sure the Deputy would not wish that outcome.