Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take this opportunity to wish the Senators well in these new surroundings. I wish them every success in their deliberations. I am pleased to be here to speak on the important topic which the Seanad has raised, namely, direct provision. I thank the Members of the Seanad for this engagement. This is an issue in which I take a very personal interest as well as a professional interest.

At the outset, it is important to clear up some misunderstandings about the nature of direct provision. The regimes operated by some countries around the world are quite notorious and I feel it is often the case that assumptions are made that all countries use the same approach.Indeed, some people believe that the accommodation offered constitutes a detention centre. This, of course, is not the case.

Direct provision is the system whereby State services are offered and directly provided to protection applicants through the relevant Department or agency. Hence the name "direct provision". We do not know who or how many will arrive on our shores today or tomorrow. We do not know who may claim to be in need of protection within our jurisdiction. However, I can say that approximately 50 new applicants arrive in Ireland every week currently. What we do know is that all applicants, on behalf of the Irish people, are offered immediate shelter, full board accommodation and a range of services, such as health and education while their applications for international protection are in the course of being processed. Not every person who seeks international protection chooses to accept this offer, and many choose to live with colleagues, family or friends in communities across the country, as they are entitled to do.

If the system was simply disbanded, as some Members of these Houses and groups have been calling for, the risks of consigning vulnerable people, who know neither our systems nor our language, to poverty and exploitation are multiplied. It can only exacerbate the risks for unprotected people, as they will join the lengthy waiting lists for social housing or enter the private rental market with little hope of finding affordable and secure accommodation in the current housing crisis. The Government will not leave vulnerable people at greater risk while we are urged by some to abandon our international obligations to provide shelter and essential services to applicants.

The direct provision system is a guarantee that every person who walks into the international protection office today will tonight have a bed, food, showering facilities, medical care, information and access to a wide range of services. Such people will not be forced to spend the night on the streets or be left to their own devices to look for emergency housing, as in the early years under previous Governments. They will not be vulnerable to ruthless criminals stealing any welfare payment that would replace direct provision and leaving them in abject poverty. In almost two decades, I have yet to hear a credible alternative being proposed to the current system.

That said, the way the system operated for many years was unsatisfactory. It was beset by problems as the State sought to grapple with a large volume of asylum applications, something this country was not used to. The previous Government made important strides in improving the system, and my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, and I are committed to implementing fully the programme of reform initiated by this and the previous Government for the protection process and the direct provision system.

The landscape of our international protection process has radically changed for the better since we asked Mr. Justice McMahon and his expert group to report to us in 2015. I wish to place on the record my sincere gratitude to Mr. Justice McMahon and all of those who served on his expert group for their invaluable service to the State.

All systems require continual review and improvement. The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, and I are working with our departmental officials and across the Government to enhance and develop the entire system continually in order that the best possible set of facilities and services can be provided to those in State care. We have published three item-by-item accounts on our implementation of the recommendations in the McMahon report. The final report in July showed the considerable progress made, with 98% of the recommendations advised as being implemented in full or in advanced progress. The commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government to reforming the system, with a particular focus on families and children, is further testament that Fine Gael and our partners in government are the ones pursuing meaningful reform throughout the protection process.

The key recommendation underpinning the McMahon report was to address the length of time taken to process applications, which consequently leads to long stays in State-provided accommodation. With the commencement of the International Protection Act 2015 on 31 December last year, we now have a single application procedure. This is the greatest reform to our protection process in more than 20 years. It means applicants will have all aspects of their claims, refugee status, subsidiary protection status and permissions to remain examined and determined in one process. Our intention is to provide first instance decisions in the shortest possible timeframe. I have put in place significant additional resources to facilitate this at first instance and appeal levels, and I expect further resources to be assigned over the coming period.

The landscape of processing and delay has changed substantially. When the McMahon report was published in 2015, 36% of applicants were in the direct provision system for three years or less. This figure is now 72%, which represents a radical improvement. We continue to work hard to improve the situation further. There is no room for complacency, and there will be no complacency.

Substantial reforms to the living conditions of applicants who are provided with shelter, accommodation and services in the centres have also been made. Most significantly, we have established a food hall in the Mosney centre where residents can obtain appropriate food that they can cook in their own homes. On a visit to Mosney's Friends of the Centre family day in July, Mr. Justice McMahon praised the centre, saying it provided a template for other direct provision centres to follow. Cooking facilities have also been provided in centres such as Kinsale Road, Clonakilty, Millstreet in Cork and St. Patrick's in Monaghan to enable individual families to cook for themselves if they so desire. This is an important part of everyday family life, and I am conscious of children in this regard.

An increase to the disposable income for adults and children living in direct provision was provided in August. Since the McMahon report, we have more than doubled the weekly rate of direct provision allowance for children. Adults who will soon have access to the labour market will also see their capacity for economic independence enhanced in line with the finding of the Supreme Court. Residents have been given access to the services of the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children, which is an important step forward.

There has been a great deal of criticism of direct provision over the years. Much of it has been warranted and many experts have engaged constructively with Mr. Justice McMahon to deliver improvements in this regard. However, some of the criticism has not been warranted. All states have to set and implement rules about people coming to them. Asylum seekers must apply for international protection status under international law on clearly defined grounds. When asylum seekers come to Ireland seeking international protection status, they enter a legal process. It is during this time that we offer direct provision to those who choose to avail of it.

Alongside the asylum process, we have significant commitments to welcoming refugees fleeing harrowing conflicts in Syria and other regions. Refugees who come to Ireland under the Irish refugee protection programme are initially provided with shelter at emergency reception and orientation centres, EROCs. Regrettably, we have been experiencing some difficulties in identifying suitable centres. My officials who work in this area every day are of the view that the blunt condemnations of the system of shelter is acting as a serious disincentive to people offering their properties for rent to the State. This means that vulnerable refugees whom we have already screened to come to Ireland under resettlement or relocation may remain in camps abroad this winter. That would be a most regrettable situation. My Department will shortly be publishing a call for tenders for the provision and management of EROCs, and I would like all Senators to assist in identifying suitable locations that they may be familiar with, in their constituencies or beyond, with a view towards encouraging possible applicants to tender for this important engagement.

I am open to following the European model and inviting NGOs who are active in this area to focus their coalitions towards providing practical support and positively responding to one of our open calls, for which have designated funding, to run a direct provision centre. Seventeen years on and three years into the current crisis, we are unique among the EU member states in this regard in that it is solely the State that offers such shelter and support. I understand that one NGO-housing association partnership has recently expressed some interest in exploring the possibility of becoming involved. I welcome this initiative and would encourage others to think along similar lines. If people want to effect change in their areas, we need practical partnerships and constructive engagement to deliver tangible supports and results. The management of a centre by an NGO or NGO grouping would provide an opportunity to embed the type of ethos that NGOs may wish to see implemented, funded by the Irish taxpayer exclusively from the State's resources.I say to NGOs that I welcome that co-operation which is the bedrock of so many other countries’ humanitarian response to this international crisis.

I look forward to hearing the contributions of Seanadóirí this afternoon in this debate. While I appreciate that this is an emotive topic, we need constructive solutions. I urge colleagues to be mindful of the possible impact of their statements, particularly in respect of reinforcing stereotypes of a negative nature in respect of asylum seekers. It is important that Members are accurate in their statements and acknowledge the context both in Ireland and internationally.

I again emphasise the urgent need for a greater accommodation supply. I reiterate my absolute commitment to ensuring the McMahon report is implemented and that we operate a humanitarian system that upholds and respects the law and the international norm of human dignity.