Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to the House. I am not a wholehearted advocate of direct provision as a means of housing people who are seeking asylum in this country, many of whom are in a distressed state. I have been to two of these centres and was not at all impressed with what I saw. We have responsibilities and duties as a State to respect and protect people who come here seeking asylum and to ensure that regard is given to their sense of integrity, belonging and decency.

What I saw in the two centres I visited was people putting their best foot forward. The visits were arranged, with the centre management aware well in advance of our attendance. I suspect we might have seen many different things if we had arrived unannounced. Other public representatives who have visited direct provision centres over the years have told me they were met with aggression when they sought to speak to residents alone and hear their concerns.

As a country, millions of our people have emigrated over many decades. Some were treated extremely well and have prospered and enriched the countries to which they migrated. Others were not so lucky and were treated very badly. We have all heard the stories of the signs in the windows of business premises proclaiming "No dogs, no Irish". Are we as a society prepared to stand over a system where people who come to our country to seek refuge are not properly respected but are instead made to feel humiliated, isolated and degraded? That is what is happening in this country at this time. It is a national scandal. Coming generations will look back in shame at how we treated people in this situation.

An all-party Seanad committee has been establish to examine the system of direct provision, make some waves and, at the very least, give the people concerned a voice. Various non-governmental organisations are doing good work in this area, but they have essentially been voiceless in so far as their efforts do not seem to have attracted the type of popular support for which one would have hoped. I acknowledge the efforts of my friend and colleague, Senator Jillian van Turnhout, in this area. She is a member of the Seanad all-party committee, as are Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and others.

As a start in terms of tackling this issue, and it is nothing more than a start, I am calling for a provision whereby elected Members of the Oireachtas would be able to knock on the door of any of the 30 plus centres, present their identification and be able to gain access to speak to residents and examine the facilities. A model in this regard is the well-established prison visiting committee system in all prisons in this country. Some of those committees work well while others do not. Committee members can turn up, with their identification, and gain access to the facilities at any time of the day or night. I propose that any new contract that is issued to providers of direct provision services - I understand these matters come under the remit of the Reception and Integration Agency - should include a provision whereby any Member of the Oireachtas, with proper identification, would be facilitated to perform random inspections of the premises and to speak in confidence to residents and hear their concerns.

As I said, our treatment of asylum seekers is an issue on which future generations will look back and be very ashamed. I am not sure of the Minister of State's view on this matter, but I know she is a compassionate person. It is a pity the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, is not here to respond. He had a great deal to say on this issue when he was in opposition. I would like to see him implement some of the proposals he put forward when he was on the other side of the House. It is amazing how people who go into government seem to end up allowing advisers to mute their instincts and beliefs. Sometimes in politics, as in life, hard decisions have to be made and leadership must be shown. Sometimes one must throw caution to the wind and tell officials how it is to be done. There is an imperative to do the right thing. As a first small step in this regard, Oireachtas Members, on the basis of their mandate from the people, should be able to present at direct provision centres - which, after all, are funded by the taxpayer - perform an inspection and thereafter report back to Parliament as they see fit.