Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 327: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people in direct provision at present; the cost to the State in the past 12 months of such provision; the number of accommodation centres nationally; if he has plans to increase the subvention to asylum seekers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42259/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers in accordance with the Government policy of direct provision and dispersal. In this regard, RIA is currently providing accommodation to almost 6,900 asylum seekers in 60 centres located across 22 counties. The cost to the State for the provision of such accommodation in the last financial year, i.e. 2007, was £83.262 m. This expenditure included such services as preschool services, utilities (gas) etc, transporting asylum seekers throughout the country under the system of dispersal, and miscellaneous amounts such as the payment for nappies and funeral expenses.

The Direct Provision system seeks to ensure that the accommodation and ancillary services provided by the State meet the requirements of asylum seekers while their applications for asylum are being processed. This system provides asylum seekers with full board accommodation free of utility or other costs. It is essentially a cashless system. The question also refers to the subvention to asylum seekers. I assume the Deputy is referring to the Direct Provision allowance of £19.10 per adult and £9.60 per child which was introduced some years ago. This is paid by Community Welfare Officers (CWOs), operating under the aegis of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. CWOs also have discretion to make once-off exceptional needs payments in relation to, for example, back to school clothing.

The Direct Provision allowance seeks to reflect the value of the above-mentioned services to the asylum seeker and there are no plans to increase the allowance. It should also be noted that asylum seekers in Direct Provision also qualify for medical cards and can access the public health service in the same way as an Irish citizen and that children are entitled to free education at Primary and Post-Primary level.