Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Senator Darragh O'Brien claimed the Government will not address direct provision. There is not a Senator who does not want the system changed and the terrible wrongs that are taking place put right.
I commend Senators Norris and van Turnhout on proposing the Bill. From my work with Senator Ó Clochartaigh, I am aware of the excellent work he has done on this issue. He has made Senators much more aware of what is taking place in the direct provision system. Just over a year ago, a replica of a direct provision site was erected close to Leinster House to show people exactly the type of atrocious and awful conditions in which people must live. This has been going on for much too long. One of my main issues with direct provision is that companies are making millions of euro out of the hardship endured by those living in the system.
It has been argued that the Government does not care. The establishment of the working group on direct provision is the primary reason the Government will not accept the legislation. Let us wait on the working group's recommendations and work together from there.
At the end of 2013, the Reception and Integration Agency was accommodating 4,360 individuals, of whom 1,666 were under the age of 18 years and 451 were between the ages of 18 and 25 years. I share Senator Conway's view that a future Taoiseach will apologise for the direct provision system. It is not acceptable that children have spent their childhood in direct provision. We all recognise the fractured and complicated nature of the asylum system. This is a time for listening to the views of the working group before deciding what is to be done.
Since the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, was appointed, he has vocalised what many of us have been working on-----