Máire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

There are currently more than 5,000 people incarcerated in prisons for the innocent of Ireland today. It is direct provision I want talk about. My party believes it is the new eighth amendment. It is the new industrial schools that much shamed the State for many, many years. It is how we treated the most vulnerable. Do we not learn?

When one hears of the conditions at the centres, the idea of waiting indefinitely for such long periods is fairly chilling.A young woman from whom I heard recently referred to her sentence and it is a sentence until she receives a positive or negative decision. I recently heard from people living in direct provision who are members of the LGBTI community and who are having serious problems due to their gender or sexual identity. This is Pride week and I believe it is timely for the Minister to address the issues raised. The recommendations of the McMahon report about improving the lives of LGBTI people in direct provision and the three subsequent implementation reports stated that successive changes had been made. However, there seems to be a vast amount of evidence to the contrary. There are many outstanding issues that have never been addressed. I wish to seek clarity on these issues today.

Heartbreakingly, I have heard that some people need to remain closeted in direct provision because they are sharing a room with strangers and nobody is monitoring who is put with whom. There is evidence of bullying exacerbated by the cramped and stressful conditions in which they are living. In some cases, they are fleeing solely because of sexual identity yet they are put with people who will bully, intimidate and ridicule them. The same people cannot access LGBTI spaces easily because of financial and logistical reasons. Obviously, Dublin is the place for people to go but people in rural areas have nowhere. It might seem to be of little significance to me or the Minister of State but for those people who have been persecuted and abused for who they are, access to space that is safe and welcoming is vital for their physical and mental health.

Unlike fleeing prosecution because of one's ethnicity or political activism, it was highlighted that it is difficult and questionable ethically to "prove" one's LGTBI-ness. One individual told a story of being asked what was his favourite Madonna song as this was one of the criteria for passing a test of LGBTI-ness. It is dangerous and stereotypical, brings about stigma and has an impact on mental health. It is insensitive to say the least. It was stated in the third and final implementation report on foot of the McMahon recommendations that sensitivity training was under way. Can the Minister of State give me a detailed update about where this is?

Considering that asylum applicants are typically waiting around 20 months for their asylum interview at the International Protection Office, by the time they attend their substantive interview, many LGBT people experience added severe stress and mental health difficulties and their capacity to engage with the asylum procedure is significantly reduced. This is particularly problematic in the context of limited or no access to early legal advice.

The Irish Refugee Council, IRC, is doing phenomenal work on these issues. I will put some of its recommendations to the Minister of State and I implore him to take them seriously. In terms of the EU reception conditions directive, the establishment of a formal vulnerability assessment mechanism to identify special reception needs should go beyond acute medical vulnerability and take into account an individual's psychosocial, cultural and other accommodation needs, including the needs of LGBTI people. The IRC's concern is that the current basic health screening that asylum seekers may avail of does not capture the accommodation requirements of many applicants. I want to say "hello" to those listening from direct provision this morning who are hoping that the Minister of State will bring them good news.