Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senators Mullen and Bradford on the tabling of this motion today. We have discussed this matter in the House on several occasions over the last two years. I have been working with Senators van Turnhout and Ó Clochartaigh and other members of the cross-party group on this issue for some time. We have been trying to get a cross-party consensus to deal with it. I think issues of human rights are bigger than all of us individually or politically. There should be a genuine bipartisan consensus on how we address such issues. We need to ensure people are treated with dignity.
I have to say I was heartened to read in the newspaper about the Minister of State's comments on the need to tackle this problem. The last time we discussed the issue, in the presence of the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, we got fairly cold comfort that anything was going to be done. I am glad that shortly after his appointment, the new Minister of State singled this out as an area he would like to address. Having read the amendment to the motion before the House, I have to say I share the concerns expressed by some Members about whether there is a broader commitment beyond the Minister of State's office - at the Cabinet table, in particular - to deal with this issue. I do not see anything remotely objectionable in the Private Members' motion that has been proposed. It is really disappointing that the Government has tabled a bland amendment to that motion instead of accepting it. The amendment merely restates the commitment that was made in 2011, and repeated earlier this year, to the effect that this area will be reviewed and changes will be made.
When the legislative programme was published earlier today, I was disappointed to note that the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2010 is still listed as awaiting Committee Stage debate. Of course that has been the case since November 2010. That was how far it reached under the last Government before it fell. It was reinstated by this Government but nothing has happened on it for three years. It has been suggested that the Bill will be progressed sometime in 2015. That is the only indicative date we have been given. No more information than that was given in today's legislative programme. I hope the Minister of State will give us some more information. I know he has not spoken yet. Maybe he will have more to say when he makes his remarks. I think this is an area in which we need to move beyond expressing concern in this House. We need to move towards action.

The former Supreme Court judge, Mrs. Catherine McGuinness, has said a future Government will end up apologising for the direct provision system and in particular the conditions for children in those centres in the same way as the current Government and its predecessors have apologised for torture that was visited upon people in residential institutions and Magdalen laundries in the past. This is an area in which we need to see much greater urgency and commitment. Like many other Members, I visited the exhibition across the street curated by the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland. A mock room from a direct provision centre was created to show the typical conditions in which people live. One could have five or six people – an entire family of two adults and four children - in a tiny space that is probably half the size of the Minister of State’s office. No peaceful space was allocated for teenagers studying for exams nor was there any room for small children to play in comfort. No privacy was available to parents. Communal toilets and shower facilities presented another risky situation as children shared them with other adults. Such a situation raises obvious child protection issues. The conditions are appalling and it is beyond time that something was done about it.

Overall, two things must happen. First, we must tackle the length of time people wait for a decision. That is a large part of the cause for the long stay in direct provision accommodation. It should not take years for somebody to get an initial decision on his or her asylum application and for them to fight appeals and take court cases. We need a streamlined process. That is what the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill was intended to bring about. I urge the Minister of State to progress the legislation as soon as possible. People should not spend longer than the originally intended six months in direct provision centres. Child protection risks must be addressed even in the case of sharing such a cramped space for a short period, be it a day, a month or a year. We must ensure facilities are safe for children and women, especially single women who do not have any family backup or another adult to look after them. The Immigrant Council of Ireland has pointed out that some women have come from situations where they have been raped and subjected to the most horrific sexual violence and then find themselves in mixed facilities where their safety is put at risk. People whom the Garda believe are victims of trafficking are also put into centres where the traffickers know where they are and can make contact with them through other individuals and put pressure on them. Such a situation is scandalous.

Regardless of how long a person is in a centre, the conditions should be safe and fair. Nobody should be there for more than six months. People should be given the right to work after a reasonable period, for example, a year is typical in most European countries. We must devise a system that is fair to everybody. The country is entitled to have a robust immigration system and to control who comes in and out but we also have responsibility as a humane nation to ensure that people who flee torture and persecution have the right to build a life in this country and to do everything we can to integrate them and not institutionalise them in an environment into which none of us would bring our families.