Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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13. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will bring forth proposals to end the inhuman conditions attached to the direct provision model operating under her control; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17151/16]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Will the Tánaiste make a statement on any proposals or plans she has to end the inhumane direct provision model that operates under her control? There are 4,000 to 5,000 people living under this system, 1,700 children growing up within it and more than 400 children already born in Ireland in the system. Will the Tánaiste make a statement on any plans to end direct provision?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Every effort is made on a continuous basis to provide a high level of service to persons in the direct provision system. The direct provision system comprises not just full board accommodation but a range of services including health, education and welfare supports. The principal issue identified in the McMahon report was the length of time people live in the system. Many of the applicants living in direct provision have multiple appeals under way at present which has contributed to the length of time.

We are committed to reforming the direct provision system, with particular focus on families and children. The previous Government established the working group chaired by Judge McMahon. Last week I held a meeting with all of the relevant stakeholders and discussed with them the implementation of that report and our progress on it. The McMahon report said we have to improve the application process and the quality of life in the accommodation through improvements in services. Of the 173 recommendations that were made, a total of 91 of them have been taken forward; 49 are partially implemented and in progress and the balance remain under consideration. When I met the various stakeholders working in this area we identified a number of areas where further improvements can be made.

I am meeting a group again in September to continue that work. I meet them on a regular basis so that we can progress the reforms.

The International Protection Act, which was enacted last year, takes forward 29 of the recommendations because we need a speedier and more effective system that ensures applications are dealt with quickly and appropriately and that people are not in the system. Many thousands of cases have been heard in the past year and the number of people who are in direct provision over five years has decreased significantly. In fact, the vast majority have now moved to being there for under three years. There has been a substantial change, particularly in terms of the main recommendation the McMahon report highlighted.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Tánaiste.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There are also initiatives on better standards of accommodation and cooking facilities for families. Those are moving ahead in quite a number of the direct provision centres.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I point out to the Tánaiste that last year the UN Human Rights Committee described it as a severe violation of human rights. That committee is very hard on the system of children living in what has been called "state-sanctioned poverty".

The Tánaiste will be aware that there is an allowance of €19.10 a week for each adult in direct provision. That was set in 1999 and has not changed. According to my calculation of indexation for inflation, that allowance should be a meagre €27.50. Instead of looking after those in direct provision, the Government is paying out millions of euro to the companies which make vast profits in providing the accommodation. All of the evidence shows, as the Tánaiste must agree, that there are severe mental issues with thousands of adults and children living in an environment where they have no control, where adults are not allowed work or study and where children are not even allowed bring their classmates home to play with them. Could the Tánaiste please comment on those humane issues that are outstanding in dealing with this issue?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As Deputy Bríd Smith will be aware, a decision was taken by the previous Government not to increase the sum paid for adults but to increase the sum paid for children. In the Department of Education and Skills, the former Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, made the decision about children moving on to third level. It is a small number, but that decision was taken to ensure that children in direct provision could access third level places as well. There were also the other changes which I have spoken about.

As I said at the beginning, we want to provide as high a level of service to persons who are awaiting assessment as we can. A number of centres have been closed. Every effort is being made to improve the standards of accommodation. It is a serious issue. We discussed it again with the NGOs, the representatives of which attended last week, as I stated.

There are child protection policies and child support policies in place. We clearly want to ensure that the centres meet international human rights standards. I certainly want to ensure that is the case. I recently agreed that the Ombudsman for Children would have a role in relation to direct provision and that has been widely welcomed. That ensures that there now is an independent person - there are also inspections - who can also make recommendations of changes he or she considers necessary.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I again ask the Tánaiste to comment on some of the reports. I refer to a confidential Government report in 2013 which stated that the system was not ideal but it saved us money, and we did not want to change it in case we attracted other asylum seekers from the United Kingdom. Would the Tánaiste agree that, in reality, we are reinforcing the fortress Europe idea that we want to keep them out as much as possible despite the fact that many of them are fleeing war, famine, dictatorships, etc., that even when they get here we treat them as less than human or second-class people, and that there is an outrageous amount of money being made by companies providing direct provision? It is not even State provision. We are handing over taxpayers' money to those making vast profits to keep people in conditions which can only be termed as inhumane and psychologically damaging, and very damaging to children who grow up in the system. We also have approximately 400 children born in this country in a complete limbo as to who and what they are because they are not entitled to citizenship and they cannot go back to where their parents came from.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland was quick to respond. I was to the fore at the Justice and Home Affairs meeting when countries were asked to take refugees during the big crisis last year. We immediately agreed to take 4,000 refugees and that was a sign of our intentions in this area. Our full obligation under resettlement will be met by the end of September when over 500 refugees from camps in Lebanon will have arrived in Ireland.

The relocation programme is also accelerating, with 31 Syrians arriving last night.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I hope they are not put in direct provision.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The 31 Syrians are in the emergency centres that we have set up, according to the recommendation. The recommendation at European level is that refugees arriving in the first place should be in a centre where they get support services, which we have in place.

Every effort is being made to improve the standard of accommodation in our direct provision system. I assume Deputy Bríd Smith has visited some of those centres. I have been to various centres. As for the recommendations in the McMahon report on providing better accommodation for children and families where they have their own cooking facilities, we are trying to move to that as quickly as possible.