Results 1-20 of 108 for "direct provision" speaker:Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

Seanad: Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister will be aware that I and many other Senators have continually raised the issue of direct provision in the House. There are many who feel that the human rights of those in direct provision have been transgressed. A former holder of the position of Ombudsman raised the issue of the oversight of the direct provision system and stated that she wanted the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2012)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I welcome the amendment. As the Minister is well aware, I and many other Senators have been lobbying on the issue of direct provision for some time. We have aired serious concerns about how the direct provision model is working and what could potentially be taking place in direct provision centres. The anomaly with these centres is that they are part of a private service operated on behalf...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Department of Social Protection (18 Nov 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The HAP scheme is in its pilot phase and, obviously, people in direct provision will not be on the local authority housing lists. Will HAP take into consideration the length of time people have been in direct provision? They may have been in direct provision for five, six, seven or eight years when the HAP applications are being made and they have been waiting that long for accommodation.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Fifth Stage (7 Nov 2013)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: If you listen you might understand what it is all about. We tabled an amendment that was ruled out of order but it was a serious amendment on children and direct provision. We had a debate in the House in recent weeks on direct provision in which Senators from all parties agreed that the direct provision system should be reformed. The Minister is not yet of the same mind but there is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Department of Social Protection (18 Nov 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: A citizen has a right to go to the Ombudsman at the end of the process, whereas somebody living in direct provision can only go as far as the social welfare appeals office in the context of any dispute over what has been allocated. That is the nub of what the Ombudsman was saying to us. The Ombudsman should be available to everyone in the country, including those in direct provision. I am...

Seanad: Migrant Integration Strategy: Statements (16 May 2017)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: ...xe9;anta acu. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House.There has been a little bit of political light-footedness on this issue. We were actually calling for a debate around the International Protection Act 2015, its implementation and direct provision. Certainly, the integration strategy is very welcome. It is a very laudable strategy and I welcome it. There are some...

Seanad: Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I would beg to differ but I will not discuss the matter in detail now. There are inherent difficulties with the system of direct provision as it is set up. I refer to the fact that it is a privatised system and that there is lack of oversight in respect of it. There are many issues which arise in the context of direct provision but we will not discuss them now because they are not...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Refugee Accommodation (28 Nov 2012)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Táim thar a bheith buíoch de as teacht isteach chun an cheist seo a fhreagairt. The Minister of State may be aware that I have raised the direct provision model on a number of occasions. This is an issue of major concern to me. It not appropriate for the long-term housing of refugees seeking asylum in the State. There are major issues concerning the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Direct Provision System (15 Jul 2013)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as bheith anseo linn. Coincidentally the Minister of State was present when I raised a similar issue previously on the payments relating to direct provision. I have forwarded, as part of my question, a receipt that a person who is in direct provision gets from the Department of Social Protection. The question is around the figures....

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2013)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: ...vulnerable people. I agree with those statements in regard to the farming community and certainly their help is needed. Another example of that, which we have raised on a number of occasions, is the direct provision system. There are still approximately 6,000 people in 43 hostels across the country. One third of those in direct provision are children and many of the families are in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2018)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: .... Sometimes one can wonder if we do anything of value in these Houses. In the past, Senator Mac Lochlainn was the Chairman of Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions. As part of its work, the committee wrote a report on direct provision. One of its recommendations was that the Ombudsman be given oversight of the direct provision system. I welcome yesterday's report from...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2013)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: ...: An Irish Quarterly Review, in which she wrote the lead article, entitled "Asylum Seekers in our Republic: Why Have We Gone Wrong?" Today, she intimated her frustration - these are my words - with the way direct provision has been handled and the situation for those asylum seekers in direct provision. She outlined a number of legal issues with the system and the lack of oversight. As...

Seanad: Magdalen Laundries Report: Statements (27 Feb 2013)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: ...would like to make a few other remarks as I may not get an opportunity to do so next week. I concur with what has been said previously, particularly with Senator van Turnhout's remarks in regard to direct provision. Last week, I commended the Taoiseach on making the State apology. It is hoped that there will not be a need for a future Taoiseach to make a State apology on behalf of...

Seanad: Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (3 Oct 2012)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I do not have the legal background of some of my esteemed colleagues but I raised the issue yesterday of children in direct provision. The section asks whether the parents have failed in their duty towards children. There are quite a number of children in direct provision who do not have their parents with them and are left to their own means within the system. Will the Minister clarify...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I have been dealing with people in direct provision for six years, Senator Buttimer, and I will not take any lectures from you on direct provision. The Government needs to do something about it rather than waffle.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Asylum Seeker Accommodation (20 Sep 2012)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: ...the Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, expressed views diametrically opposed to the statement made by the Minister of State. We have had a complete U-turn and whitewash. Serious problems arise in the direct provision system. From the limited access I have been able to secure to direct provision centres, I have noted that specific serious issues arise in them. I ask the Minister of State to...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: There has been a great deal of talk about scrapping direct provision. People have said we should get rid of it. I wonder, therefore, why the Bill is not called the international protection (abolition of the direct provision system) Bill. Can I put that question to the Minister of State? Are we discussing-----

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Oct 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: ...not in a position to support the Bill, although I believe there are fundamental issues. I certainly support and applaud any efforts that are being made to change the system and I have serious issues with the direct provision system, as the House knows. I ask the Minister to clarify once and for all the Government’s position on direct provision. We hear one thing from the Minister...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2012)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: ...recent weeks for a debate on suicide. I am very disturbed because I have spoken this morning to a man who has told me he is suicidal. The reason is that he is an asylum seeker in Lisbrook House, a direct provision hostel in Galway, and a decision was taken yesterday to close the centre. I do not doubt that he is genuinely morose. The Lisbrook centre is part of a broader direct...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: We welcome the rumblings that have been coming from Ministers, particularly the Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Riordáin, on direct provision. I have asked a number of times for information on the Fine Gael stance on direct provision. It seems to me there is a difference of opinion between the Government parties on this issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Ó...