Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 488: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to close a centre (details supplied) in County Laois; the date of the closure; the contractual arrangements with the company currently running this centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18657/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Reception & Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers while their protection applications are being processed. By way of background to this question, as of today RIA has 45 asylum seeker accommodation centres across 18 counties accommodating almost 5,800 residents. The system is a constantly evolving one, taking account of the ebb and flow of residents and of the financial resources available to RIA. The numbers needing to be accommodated by RIA have declined by 7% in the past year and this trend is continuing downwards. The 2011 estimates provision for RIA is €67.5 million, down €10 million (13%) from last year. Added to this is the requirement by RIA – as recommended in last year's Value for Money (VFM) Report - to maintain an overall operational 'spare capacity' of less than 10%. Accordingly, because of a decline in demand, the number of asylum accommodation centres is necessarily falling. Five centres closed in 2008, six in 2009, eight in 2010 and more will be closed or downsized later this year.

The centre referred to in this question is operated by a commercial firm with whom RIA has a contract to provide accommodation services for 55 persons. Its current contract ends on 18 July, 2011. The contract is not being renewed by RIA, not because of any unhappiness with the running of the centre but rather because of the falling numbers of asylum seekers and the need to keep costs to a minimum. The centre had originally been contracted to RIA from 2 July, 2001 to 22 December, 2005. It closed but re-opened again on 24 July, 2007 and, as stated, its current contract ends on 18 July, 2011.