Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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72. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will end the system of direct provision for asylum seekers; and her views on the number of children in the system, the length of time spent by asylum seekers in direct provision centres, the living conditions and standards, and the absence of independent inspection or complaints procedure. [26757/14]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I would like to ask the Minister to deal with the issue of direct provision for those seeking asylum and the unsuitability of continuing with those arrangements in view of the effect on the human beings who are the subject of this, particularly children.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy knows, the Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, of my Department is responsible for the accommodation of protection applicants in accordance with Government policy in this country. I spent some time recently visiting Mosney and met with many of the residents there as well as staff and management. I acknowledge that the length of time residents spend in direct provision is an issue to be addressed. My immediate priority is to ensure that the factors leading to delays in the processing of cases are dealt with so that protection seekers spend as little time as necessary in direct provision.

A key priority for Government is legislative reform aimed at establishing a single application procedure for the investigation of all grounds for protection and any other grounds presented by applicants seeking to remain in the State. I believe such reform would substantially simplify and streamline the existing arrangements by removing the current multi-layered and sequential processes that people get caught up in, choose to use or have to use. This would provide applicants with a final decision on their application in a more straightforward and timely fashion.

I am reviewing the work done to date in respect of the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill and will then decide how best to progress the implementation of this priority, in particular with regard to expediting the aspects of the Bill that will lead to the establishment of a single application procedure.

With regard to the more specific matters raised by the Deputy, there are 4,353 persons availing of direct provision accommodation in 34 centres, some 38% of whom are children under 18, as the Deputy pointed out. Sixty-eight percent of those residents first claimed international protection in Ireland three or more years ago. I want to put on the record of the House that centres are inspected three times a year, once by an independent company. Obviously, various clinics and support services are made available to residents in direct provision, as I saw in Mosney - for example, young children can attend the ECCE programme.

The child protection and Garda vetting policies are in place for all centres. It is very important to record the fact that all of these safety policies apply to the centres as much as to anywhere else. There is also a complaints mechanism. I have asked the RIA to highlight the statistics relating to children in direct provision accommodation and ensure as much information on them as possible is given. The Deputy will notice that it is included in its annual report this year.

A child protection policy based on the HSE's Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children is applied. I take the overall point made by the Deputy about the difficulties experienced in spending long periods in direct provision accommodation.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Everyone agrees that decision-making needs to be significantly expedited. I thoroughly agree, but my question deals with existing conditions because the people in direct provision accommodation still face a long period of time in the system. Does the Minister agree that the living conditions enforced on people as a consequence of the current method used are inhuman? As she noted, 38% of those in direct provision accommodation are children. Is it not unsuitable for children to be in such an environment for three to five years in which they will never know a mother or father who cooks a meal because it is not possible to do so in such cases, in which they will never see a parent or an elder sibling go out to work because they are prohibited from doing so, in which there is very little privacy and no right to education resulting in de-skilling and in which there is isolation from society? Does the Minister agree that this is inhuman and should be changed while she is trying to deal with a process to hear people's stories?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I certainly believe we must ensure the best possible standards are applied in the centres in which people are living. I recently visited the centre in Mosney and met the staff and management. I am sure the Deputy has visited some of the centres. Clearly, a lot of work is done to ensure, given the circumstances that apply, that people's needs are met as much as possible. Of course, any provision system is inextricably linked with the surrounding international protection process. As the Deputy is aware, countries vary in how they deal with the challenges posed by the numbers seeking refugee status or asylum and the type of accommodation provided. Clearly, Ireland has taken a decision to provide a certain type of accommodation. The biggest problem, certainly one of the key issues, with the current system is the one I mentioned, namely, the length of time people spend in direct provision accommodation. I want to bring forward legislative reforms aimed at establishing a single application procedure in the investigation of all grounds for protection and any other ground presented by applicants seeking asylum because if we deal with that issue and the length of time involved, it will go a long way towards improving the position.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I will not make any suggestion concerning how some of the horror stories we have heard in recent weeks about our past and how children were treated can be equated with what is happening today. However, I will make the general point that we have learned lessons from the horrors inflicted on people, including women and children, particularly in the past. Taking into account what I said, I put to the Minister that we should realise people are being damaged by living conditions in direct provision accommodation.

It has a dehumanising effect on children. Is the Minister aware that in some cases women, in particular, are more vulnerable in these circumstances? Where they might be subject to violence and assault, these conditions exacerbate that. That is what we are told by those who work with those in direct provision and we have to take this seriously. As well as pushing forward on the processing of people seeking refuge, this issue needs to be urgently examined and direct provision changed fundamentally.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister's reply and I acknowledge that 60,000 people have received citizenship since the Government came into power. Has she considered putting a process in place whereby the people who are waiting longest on their application to be dealt with would be prioritised? Some of the families have children who have been in such accommodation for up to nine years and they have been known nothing else.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Clearly, where is it possible to make the decision Deputy Humphreys referred to, that will be done, but frequently, the reason for the long delays is that individuals have taken a range of judicial reviews and other legal remedies regarding their case, which then prohibits the discretion she suggests.

With regard to Deputy Higgins's question, until this year it was difficult to compare how Ireland was doing relative to other countries, but we now have a report by the European Migration Network which examined 23 countries and made recommendations about good practice and dealing as sensitively as possible with people seeking asylum, and we will examine that. I agree with him that women and children are vulnerable in these circumstances. That is why we have inspection regimes and we apply the Children First guidelines. In addition, young children in direct provision have access to the ECCE scheme and attend local primary and secondary schools. However, I reiterate that the time families are spending in direct provision is a key issue that needs to be addressed urgently, and that is why I am considering dealing with it before dealing with the immigration Bill.