Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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I wish to raise the matter of the report produced this week by the Irish Refugee Council, entitled State Sanctioned Child Poverty and Exclusion, which deals with children of asylum seekers in direct provision centres. The report was written by Samantha Arnold and is valuable because it provides an analysis of the difficulties faced by these children and their families. It is particularly appropriate that the report should issue on the day of the decision to hold a children's rights referendum and that we should discuss it in this House the day the wording of the constitutional amendment is published.

Of the 5,098 residents in direct provision centres, over a third are children who spend a significant proportion of their childhood in direct provision accommodation. I have raised the issue of direct provision accommodation in the House before and on that occasion I instanced the experiences of those whom I personally know and some of whom I would consider friends. This report is more focused, and in many cases, shocking. It details reports of poor accommodation, overcrowding, malnutrition, poverty and educational exclusion, among others, amounting to a breach of these children's human rights. Alongside this report, the special rapporteur on children, Mr. Geoffrey Shannon, in his 2012 report highlighted the real risk of child abuse in direct provision centres, where single parents are required to share with strangers and where families with teenage children of opposite gender are required to share one room.

Many of the recommendations in this report are practical and achievable. I will read some of them into the record as it would be a wise exercise. One recommendation is to ensure that accommodation centres are in a good condition, with heating, hot water and cleanliness guaranteed. Other recommendations include children having access to private toilet facilities, families having adequate space and parents having rooms separate from their children; the provision of play and homework space for children; and that cultural and religious needs should be considered in consultation with families before they are dispersed throughout the country.

These recommendations are an indication that the basic and fundamental standards must be adhered to in order to protect children. With regard to dispersal, there is a direct accommodation centre in my constituency of Galway West - Lisbrook House - which received notice approximately two weeks ago by means of letter that the accommodation centre would close and the families would be moved by the end of the month. The correspondence took no cognisance of the fact that the children had started school, parents had bought books and uniforms and the children were integrating into the classes. There was no idea of doing this during the summer, when the children could have easily integrated in a new classroom. One resident told me a child had spent four days in their first week of school crying and on the day the child stopped crying, the parents were told the child would have to move anyway. This is an example of how, sometimes, the system treats people as numbers rather than individuals with rights or families with obligations.

In reading the report I can only imagine what would be said if we were looking at these conditions in any other setting. What would happen if we were seeking a guarantee of clean facilities and hot water in homeless services or private toilet facilities for children in our youth services? In direct provision and with the class of people which the system treats as "not Irish", there is a different view. This is wrong and reminiscent of the last vestiges of institutionalisation and institutionalism. As a country, we have a very poor record in that regard.

When I last spoke on this, I argued that we could be looking at the genesis of the next Cloyne or Ryan report. This report calls for an independent inquiry alongside practical recommendations. This is a wise move. We have been warned with this report and we must use it to prevent abuse right now.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in the House. I am speaking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter. The Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, of the Department of Justice and Equality is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers in accordance with the Government policy of direct provision. This year a budget of €63.5 million has been provided for this service.

It should be noted that RIA is working through the report and any issues which need to be addressed by RIA will be. In saying that, the suggestion that there is widespread State-sponsored neglect of the needs of asylum seekers' children is completely wide of the mark. Any suggestion that children are malnourished or that there is inadequate provision of food would be regarded with the utmost seriousness and would, if proven, lead to the immediate termination of contracts. It would also seem unlikely that such instances would escape the attention of the independent external assessors engaged by RIA who have expertise in food preparation and who conduct comprehensive unannounced inspections of all centres at least once a year. In any event, the Minister has directed that the report be comprehensively examined and that any significant issues identified in it be addressed. In particular, he has directed that any issues relating to the welfare of children be dealt with without delay.

The State provides levels of support in addition to full board accommodation to asylum seekers with all costs covered and no costs charged to the asylum seekers. Asylum seekers avail of free primary and post-primary education on the same basis as any other child in the State. Asylum seekers qualify for medical cards and avail of a wide range of supports such as public health nurses, adult English language supports and assistance from community welfare services to allow children to engage in activities and events within schools and through extra-curricular activities and sports clubs. Taking this broad range of supports and services into consideration, asylum seekers and their children are very well supported by the State.

Although it is not possible to address all the recommendations in the report in detail in the time available, I will attempt to address the keys issues raised. The report recommends that there should be a review of the direct provision system. Direct provision ensures that a suitable standard of accommodation and ancillary services is provided to asylum seekers. The treatment of asylum seekers in this country is at least on a par with any other country and the direct provision system delivers a high standard of service and value for money to the taxpayer through co-ordinated service delivery to asylum seekers.

A number of recommendations relate to maintaining standards across the accommodation centres. The RIA sets out standards of service in its contracts, including legislative standards, and it engages internal and expert external inspectors to review its accommodation standards. As indicated earlier, RIA engages independent external assessors with expertise in fire safety and food preparation to conduct comprehensive unannounced inspections of all centres at least once a year. The inspectors look at all aspects of the accommodation centre, taking in the proprietor's obligations under the contract. Any diminution in standards which comes to the attention of RIA is immediately followed up.

In cases where standards stipulated in the contract have not been met and the proprietor has not made sufficient efforts to remedy the situation, the contract may be terminated.

A number of recommendations relate to the safety of children and child protection concerns. The safety of all asylum seekers, especially children, is of critical importance to RIA. All complaints concerning the safety of residents are taken very seriously by RIA and centre managers. RIA's child protection policy ensures child welfare concerns are referred to the HSE and the Garda.

All accommodation units within the RIA accommodation portfolio are measured to ensure they conform to legislative requirements. In some cases, growing families refuse to avail of more suitable accommodation alternatives being offered to them.

The ninth recommendation is to allow asylum seekers who have been in Ireland for more than 12 months to work to enable parents to provide for their children. Under the law, asylum seekers cannot work. In light of experience in 1999, when asylum seekers were given the right to work and application numbers trebled, it is not proposed to change the policy in this regard.

Other recommendations are on financial and other supports for asylum seekers in direct provision. All accommodation costs, together with the costs of meals, heat, light, laundry and maintenance are paid directly by the State. In addition to direct provision allowance payments, community welfare officers provide assistance through exceptional needs payments, including back-to-school payments, as well as payments for life events such as school trips, sports and other extra-curricular activities.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome the commitment to examine the report comprehensively and to deal immediately with issues relating to children. To follow on from my initial statement, I thank the Minister for his intervention in the case to which I referred to suspend the transfer of families from the accommodation centre in Galway.

With regard to the first recommendation with regard to direct provision and the need for a review of the system, with no disrespect to the Minister of State I wish the Minister were here because the programme for Government specifically outlines this as something to be achieved and it is a target of the Government. In his life as an Opposition spokesperson on children and justice the Minister spoke about the need for this so I would hate to think something would be said in opposition but not carried into government and that a view could change so dramatically. I am sure we will have an opportunity to discuss it with the Minister. As a member of a Government party I would not be happy to think the Government is completely satisfied with the direct provision system and that it does not see it requires reform because this is not what we stated previously.

I accept the reception and integration agency's system is not a complete failure in terms of its treatment of asylum seekers and those resident in the centres. It is not the case that the examples I have outlined are widespread. However, the report highlights specific examples of such occurrences and when we are discussing children, one occurrence is too many and two are unforgivable, particularly if we have been warned about them and we know they are happening.

The broader issue of asylum and those in the centres is to do with the immigration system and how long it takes. Many people in the centres have been there for six or seven years and the entire system urgently needs root and branch reform. It is not something that can be kicked down the line continuously.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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The direct provision system operated by the reception and integration agency of the Department of Justice and Equality is only one element of the State's response to its international obligations in the area of asylum. As well as educational, health and welfare costs, there is the asylum determination system itself as well as the downstream judicial and policing costs. As one might imagine, meeting our international obligations to asylum seekers on such a scale does not come cheaply, with considerable public moneys having been expanded in the area in recent years. For instance, in 2011 the total estimated cost to the Exchequer of providing all of the services was approximately €150 million inclusive of RIA costs. Ireland is not unique in this respect. All countries which take their responsibility in this area seriously are faced with similar calls on their financial resources.

There are no cheaper alternatives to the direct provision system. If we were operating a system which facilitated asylum seekers living independent lives in individual housing with social welfare supports and payments, the cost to the Exchequer would be double what is currently paid under the direct provision system, even discounting the additional pull factor this would entail. This was a key finding in the value for money report in 2010 on the direct provision system, a copy of which is in the Oireachtas Library. The direct provision system itself provides security for asylum seekers by meeting their basic needs for food and shelter. In addition to meeting these basic needs, asylum seeker children benefit from a range of free services from the State, including educational and health services. These services are maintained and provided on the same basis as they are provided to Irish citizens. The overall package of services and the asylum and related processes available to asylum seekers in Ireland ensure the needs of all are addressed.