Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 157: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of single males in residence at Kiltimagh, County Mayo, while awaiting asylum seeker decisions; the reason the reception and integration agency of his Department has exceeded its initial proposal of ten single males at this location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11402/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The reception and integration agency, RIA, is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers. In replies to recent parliamentary questions I have outlined, in detail, current trends in asylum seeker numbers such as a fall in the number of new applications together with a fall in the number of families seeking asylum, and the consequent implications for the RIA. Accommodation provision is a demand led process driven by factors over which the RIA has no control and it is obliged to adjust its accommodation portfolio to reflect current demands. It is also obliged to use the accommodation at its disposal in the most effective way and provide the best value for money for the taxpayer.

In the case of the Kiltimagh centre, the RIA considered it to be suitable for possible reclassification from family to single person accommodation. As part of the reclassification of this centre, the RIA intended to relocate its families to other centres where they could benefit from special facilities for children and young people, including preschool facilities. For several reasons, the RIA has agreed that the families with school-going children who currently reside at the centre should be allowed to remain there at least until the end of the current school year.

The RIA has to date allocated a total of 17 male asylum seekers to the centre. The RIA undertook to place ten male asylum seekers in the annexe to the building and to monitor the arrangements on an ongoing basis. Having done so, a small number of additional placements were then made. Placements at this centre, as at any other centre, are determined by demand for beds. This demand is, in turn, determined by several factors, including the profile of asylum seekers entering the State, families, single persons, nationality, gender, age and so forth, the movement of asylum seekers from and to RIA accommodation and bed-space availability across the accommodation portfolio. The RIA will continue to monitor the arrangements in Kiltimagh.

The centre at Kiltimagh has operated as an accommodation centre since December 2003 and it has been well run, without incident, by its owners and their staff throughout this time. The RIA is obliged to accommodate all asylum seekers and, in doing so, it cannot discriminate on the basis of the sex of the person seeking asylum. The RIA has in its accommodation portfolio 16 male-only centres and no significant issues have arisen at these locations. Single male centres have, in the past, operated in small villages where residents of the centres helped in a voluntary capacity with various community activities such as the annual clean up for Tidy Towns competitions.

The RIA is aware of the concerns and fears expressed by some residents in the town, through various fora, about the placement of male asylum seekers in the centre. The RIA appreciates the degree of anxiety or unease that some local residents may feel if a centre profile is changed from women, children and small babies to single persons. It is the RIA's experience that, over time, such feelings dissipate as local residents come to know the individuals concerned and as their practical experience of the centre operation allays their initial concerns.