Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 611: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views regarding the closure of the Clare Lodge in Ennis, County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30494/09]

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. At the end of August 2009, RIA was accommodating 6,815 in 55 centres across 21 counties, including the accommodation centre at Clare Lodge, Ennis, Co. Clare.

RIA's current contract with Clare Lodge ends on 29 September, 2009 and RIA has chosen not to renew it. The non-renewal does not come about because of any concerns of RIA about performance of the contract. Rather, the closure comes about following a necessary review by RIA as to how it can reconcile its anticipated accommodation demands with the limited financial resources it has. As part of the logistical operation of effecting the closure of the accommodation centre, residents are being transferred to other centres within the RIA accommodation portfolio. This has had to be phased over several weeks and it was not always feasible to give residents as much advance notice of their new centres as would normally be possible were a closure not involved.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 612: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the cost of renting the 49 privately owned and operated centres by the Reception and Integration Agency for the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30495/09]

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. At the end of August 2009, RIA was accommodating 6,815 in 55 centres across 21 counties. Since April 2000, the RIA has provided accommodation for over 53,000 asylum seekers.

The 55 centres in the RIA portfolio consist of 49 direct provision centres, 4 self-catering centres and 2 reception centres the day to day management of all 55 centres is carried out by private companies under contract to RIA. Seven of the centres are state owned, i.e. the land and buildings are owned by the State, while the remaining 48 centres are commercially owned. 85% of all bed capacity is located within the commercially owned centres.

In fulfilling its general accommodation responsibilities, the RIA does not lease or rent premises from commercial contractors. Rather it 'contracts-in' a comprehensive range of services, which include accommodation, catering, management, housekeeping, laundry, etc., for a fixed period of time. RIA regularly places newspaper advertisements seeking expressions of interest from those who are capable of providing this range of services. The last such advertisement was in February, 2009. No newcomers are prevented from coming into the market. The RIA endeavours to achieve the best value for money in relation to such contracts, in respect of which negotiations can take place with a number of commercial entities.

The financial outturn of RIA for the last three years is outlined in the table below:

The total expenditure above includes additional transport costs, utility (gas, electricity, water etc.) costs in respect of the seven State owned centres, recoupment of accommodation costs to the HSE in respect of unaccompanied minors, and other miscellaneous costs. Specifically in respect of the privately owned and operated centres, an estimate of the total costs paid for each of the last three years is: 2006 - €66.92m; 2007 - €70.77m; 2008 - €77.71m.

In this regard, the Deputy should note that on 21 October, 2008 the Government agreed to a new round of Value For Money (VFM) reviews for the period 2009 - 2011. One of the expenditure programmes on the Vote of the Office of the Minister for Justice to be the subject of such a review is the spending by RIA on asylum seeker accommodation. As with all such VFM reviews, it has a steering committee, comprising officials from my Department and the Department of Finance and an independent Chairperson. The review is currently under way and is nearing completion. The result of this VFM review will be presented to the Oireachtas upon completion.