Results 1-20 of 71 for "direct provision" speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: This is the protection Bill. It deals with a large number of the recommendations set out in the report of the working group on direct provision. Direct provision has been a disaster for the families involved. It was a six-month solution that turned into a 12-year or 13-year solution. Nobody who is engaged in this process ever suggested that direct provision would be abolished. I never...

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I reject that assertion because I have visited approximately 14 direct provision centres and statistics show that since the publication of the working group report, its recommendations are being implemented. The number of asylum applications that have been processed and leave to remain permissions granted has grown by around 60% in that period of time. The recommendations of the report are...

International Protection Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: We are dealing with two separate issues if we are talking about the Bill and the direct provision system. Approximately half of the people here seeking asylum are in direct provision and half are not. There are approximately 4,500 people in direct provision and a similar number are not. Members know the working group was established 18 months ago and it reported earlier this year. A...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I will give my initial response to that. I do not know if Mr. Dowling or Mr. Kelly want to come in on that. On the people who are still in direct provision when they do not have to be there, I think there is a challenge for us in the future to find a step-down facility or a halfway situation because I think it would be unreasonable to expect somebody to go from a long period of living in a...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jul 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...díospóireacht sin againn anseo. Ba chóir go rachaidh sé ar aghaidh ar feadh dhá uair a chloig ar a laghad, mar a dúirt an Seanadóir féin. My last point is to support what Senator Bacik said about the recent report on conditions for children in direct provision. It is a matter of pride to this House that Members, collectively and across parties,...

Direct Provision for Asylum Seekers: Motion [Private Members] (30 Sep 2014)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I move amendment No. 1:To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following :"recognising that:- the current system of direct provision has existed for 14 years; - that the Minister and the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, having visited several centres, both agree on the need to review the current system; and - a key concern identified...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...House on a number of occasions as the Minister of State and what impressed me most about it was when it stood as and spoke with one voice. The House was never more powerful than on the issue of direct provision. I believe that Members of this House will know, regardless of their political background, that this House was very impressive and managed to move that debate onto a higher...

Seanad: Direct Provision: Statements (22 Jan 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I welcome the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Government on this important topic. I have made it clear before in this House that improving the system of direct provision to make it more humane is important to me personally and to the Government generally. Since I last spoke to the House on this subject on a Private Members' motion on 17 September 2014, there have been significant...

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: This is the International Protection Bill. It is not a Bill that deals with the direct provision system. I will try to explain it to the Senator in the simplest possible terms. The direct provision system is one in which a person resides while awaiting a decision. The International Protection Bill is about the system through which the person can get that decision. They are two very...

Seanad: Direct Provision: Motion (27 Jan 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: That is the intent behind the reforms we are overseeing. The tragedy of direct provision, as with other aspects of public policy that have failed, is that a short-term measure becomes a long-term solution. When given responsibility for this area, I did not just want to read reports and engage with NGOs, but wanted to see, smell and taste the centres myself. I have seen, smelt and tasted...

Seanad: Address by An Taoiseach (Resumed) (29 Sep 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...and Mac Lochlainn and I, who work on the Traveller ethnicity issue, hope to get good co-operation from the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton. However, I must ask the Taoiseach about the issue of direct provision and my contribution will be solely on that issue. In this House, when I was Minister of State, there was uniformity of opinion on the issue of direct provision. I see Senator...

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The intent is for six months. I totally accept the Senator's point that direct provision, for example, was supposed to be a six-month holding situation but has turned into a long-term solution, if one likes. It is just like how, when rent allowance initially was brought in, it was meant to be an emergency payment for people at risk of homelessness but has turned into a 12-year or 15-year...

Topical Issue Debate: Direct Provision System (19 Jun 2014)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The issue of direct provision centres has been troubling many people for quite a while. During the recent controversy about mother and baby homes, I came to the conclusion that there has always been a view in Ireland that some children are somehow lesser children. This cannot be dismissed as something that happened in the past. It is clear from the way Irish society views Roma children,...

Seanad: Direct Provision System: Motion (17 Sep 2014)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...of protests in asylum accommodation centres. I want to make it clear that while I fully respect the rights of residents to protest, I cannot condone the targeting of individuals working in certain direct provision centres or the stopping of people going about their lawful work. I have visited a number of centres and while my concerns about the system are unabated, I fully accept that...

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2016: Second Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...officials from the Department with whom I worked. One of the reasons I changed my mind about the validity of this Chamber - which Senator Norris will be delighted to hear - relates to the issue of direct provision. When I was Minister of State, it was the collective will of the people in this Chamber that something should be done about the issue. I was greatly impressed by the...

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...that new applicants have a more transparent and quicker protection process. The biggest problem with our system has been identified. Senator Ó Clochartaigh seems to be confusing this Bill with a direct provision Bill. This is not a direct provision Bill. Last week he wanted to abolish direct provision, with no sense of how he was going to house thousands of asylum seekers. He...

Direct Provision Report: Motion (12 Jun 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...of the issues that goes beyond politics in this House. I have been impressed by the level of interest that Deputies and Senators from different parties have taken in this discussion on this area of direct provision. However, references to welfare fraud do not help when we are discussing the issue of direct provision in this country. We have had a love affair with incarcerating people....

Topical Issue Debate: Crèche Inspections (29 May 2013)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...State funding? Most people in the House would question whether the State should be funding such companies. I do not want to wait for another RTE investigative programme to have a hidden camera in a direct provision centre in Ireland. If we are outraged about this situation in child care provision, as we should be, there are direct provision centres in this country that are also abusing...

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...the Bill is to deal with the length of time issue. Of the 173 recommendations in the working group report, 78 relate to the protection process, 26 of which are dealt with in this Bill, 51 relate to direct provision and 44 relate to other supports. We are implementing the direct provision report on the protection process.

Seanad: Direct Provision System: Motion (17 Sep 2014)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ..., Deputy Fitzgerald, to respond to this motion by supporting the Government amendment, which states:To delete all words after 'That Seanad Éireann' and substitute the following:"recognising that – -the current system of Direct Provision has existed for 14 years; -that the Minister and the Minister of State in the Department of Justice and Equality having visited several centres...