Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O’Gorman, who cannot be here. I thank the Senator for raising the issue.

Officials at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are currently developing a tender process to secure additional accommodation for families with children, couples and single people seeking international protection. That process is still at a relatively early stage. There are a number of issues around the precise tender design and specifications that still need to be worked through. Nonetheless, all is going well. It is expected that a call for tender will be issued before the end of the summer. It would not be appropriate for me to anticipate the precise details of the tender specifications at this stage. However, a number of points are worth making by way of context. A key element of the work for 2021, that is set out in the White Paper to end direct provision, is to undertake a systematic programme to move away from reliance on emergency accommodation. As the Senator will know, the Department currently has 24 emergency accommodation centres, at various locations around the country, providing accommodation for 1,187 people. A successful tender process will enable the Department to move away from this reliance on emergency accommodation.

The provision of accommodation for applicants seeking international protection is a demand-led process, with the vast majority of applicants arriving in the State spontaneously. While the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a decrease in the number of applicants seeking international protection, demand for accommodation is expected to increase significantly once the current travel restrictions ease. Under the recast asylum reception conditions directive, which Ireland opted into in 2018, the State is legally obliged to provide accommodation to international protection applicants who need it while their claim is being determined. It will be necessary to put in place a process which allows the Department to respond flexibly to increases in demand as they arise. The new tender process aims to put in place a flexible approach to enable the Department to meet its accommodation needs on an ongoing basis, pending the full implementation of the White Paper. It is intended that, as far as possible, any new accommodation that is secured during the interim period will be broadly aligned with the approach set out in the White Paper. The aim is to improve the quality of accommodation and services offered to international protection applicants. The current tender process is aimed at securing additional accommodation for international protection applicants to ensure that the Department moves away from reliance on emergency accommodation and to ensure that it has adequate capacity and can respond flexibly to increases in demand as they arise.There is no degree of urgency to this. As a consequence, the Department has no plans to run any pilot projects as part of the process.

The Senator referred to the not-for-profit sector and I understand non-governmental organisations and the not-for-profit sector are being looked at. The Senator asked about the criteria to be used and I will bring those concerns to the Minister.