David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 473: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of asylum seekers and others accommodated in the respective centres under the direct provision scheme; the number, gender and ages accommodated in each of the respective centres; the average and longest time that these persons have been accommodated; the total cost of direct provision in 2010, 2011 and the expected expenditure in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3265/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Reception & Integration Agency (RIA) is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers while their applications for international protection are being processed. In relation to expenditure by RIA, the following are the details sought.

The 2010 RIA Annual Report, available on RIA's website www.ria.gov.ie, provides a more detailed breakdown of expenditure during that year. The 2011 Annual Report is in the process of being compiled and a similar breakdown will be provided in that report.

On the aforementioned website is published monthly reports showing the number of residents in each of the current 39 accommodation centres in the RIA portfolio - the latest available report being for the month of September, 2011. A breakdown of the ages, nationalities and gender of those accommodated in RIA centres at the end of each year is given in RIA's annual reports from 2007 to 2010 which are available on the RIA website. As indicated, the 2011 Report is currently being compiled and will be published as soon as possible.

The Annual Reports as well as the monthly reports - the latest being for September, 2011 - also show a breakdown of the length of time that RIA residents have spent in the Direct Provision system overall. Neither in those reports nor in this response will it be possible to give details of the average and longest time that persons have been accommodated in each RIA accommodation centre. Information is not compiled in such a way that would allow this detail to be provided. That level of detail would be considered unnecessary as residents are not allocated to or between centres based on time spent in the system. Therefore it is statistically likely that the overall breakdown shown in the annual and monthly reports would apply broadly to residents in each centre.