Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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109. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the progress regarding the implementation of the White Paper to end direct provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48698/21]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I am asking this question on behalf of Deputy Niamh Smyth. I know the Minister is committed to ending the system of direct provision. I know that from our talks on the programme for Government. I would like to get a sense of where we are in that regard. Do we have a timeline for it? I fear that the system might conspire to dilute the Minister's ambition. Will the Minister assure me that is not going to happen?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It will not happen. As the Deputy will know, we published a White Paper. Since then, my Department has taken a significant number of steps to implement these reforms. A staff team was established in my Department to lead the transition to the new model. It has developed a detailed implementation plan.

We have a programme board, chaired by my Department, which has Government and independent membership. This will provide detailed oversight and advice to the implementation team. At the moment it is meeting monthly to review and monitor the progress of the reports.

I recently announced the membership of the three-person independent advisory group to monitor and report independently on my Department's work and that of other Departments in terms of implementing the White Paper. It is made up of really eminent people, including Dr. Catherine Day, Dr. David Donoghue and Dr. Lorcan Sirr, experts in the area of direct provision, international human rights law and housing, all of whom are essential in terms of delivering this plan. The status of those three individuals will give real confidence in respect of their independent oversight. No doubt sometimes it will be critical oversight. That is really important.

I want to recognise the work my Department has done with the Housing Agency. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, opened its resources up to us and it is working with us in terms of designing specific housing needs because housing is absolutely key in addressing this particular issue. We have access to the expertise in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in terms of designing new funding mechanisms, sourcing accommodation and designing new ownership models.

My Department has also begun work on an integration policy. Key to the White Paper is the idea of integration from day one. Irrespective of whether somebody gets a final decision of status, we will seek to integrate that person into his or her community from day one. It will take time to end direct provision. We have always said that the date will be the end of 2024. Some people say that is too long. It is an ambitious timeline to make as big a change as we are setting out, but I am absolutely committed to ending direct provision and having a new international protection support service in place by the end of 2024.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. There are 6,500 people living in accommodation provided through the International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, 1,692 of whom are children. What access do they have to the various reforms? Will their input be sought by the expert panel the Minister mentioned? Will their daily experiences be heard? Do they have a complaints mechanism at the moment? As we begin the transition away from this service, how do we ensure their lives are not impacted by it and the fact that the model will change?

I refer to the integration policy element. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure it is community-led and that all communities are involved in it, rather than having a model imposed on communities which goes against what we want to achieve and provokes the opposite reaction to what we want to achieve? We have all had experience of things that have been handled in the wrong way. Is the timeline still on target? Can we commit that by October 2024 we will have moved on from this system?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Deputy has asked plenty of questions, and I will do my best to answer. I am absolutely committed to the timeline, and my Department and all other Departments are working towards it. The point the Deputy made on the significant of involving communities in this change is important. We have work to do in terms of explaining exactly what the White Paper is at a national level and also at a specific local level. If community accommodation or a reception and integration centre is being set up locally, work is underway in terms of how that communication happens. My Department has gotten better at that. When we opened the own-door accommodation centre in Letterkenny, I informed each local Deputy of that. My Department engages with the local authority and various groups. It was not perfect, but it was certainly better than what happened in other circumstances.

In terms of the engagement of people within direct provision, their views were sought while we drafted the White Paper. Someone who lived in direct provision is on the programme board and we now have new resident welfare teams to improve the quality of life for people currently in the system.