Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 955: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown of the number of persons living in direct provision centres between three and four years, between four and five years, between five and six years, between six and seven years and more than seven years. [18024/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), a functional unit of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department, is responsible for the accommodation of persons while their applications for international protection are being processed.

RIA itself has no function in determining whether someone should stay or not in its accommodation, except in the context of rare instances of serious and repeated misbehaviour. Its function is to provide accommodation and related services to those who have sought international protection and who otherwise have no other means of supporting themselves. The process of determining protection claims is carried out by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC), Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) and the Repatriation Unit of my Department. Further, if the end of the process results in a removal order, the carrying out of that order is the responsibility of the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

In essence, RIA accommodates all those who make a claim for protection and seek accommodation until such time as they:

(i) leave voluntarily;

(ii) are removed – either by way of deportation or Dublin II transfer;

(iii) are granted refugee status or subsidiary protection; or

(iv) are granted leave to remain, either through the process set out in the Immigration Act, 1999 or by way of a special scheme such as the 2005 IBC scheme.

In relation to the statistics provided below, a number of points need to be considered.

Firstly, it is not possible to specify exactly how long each person has resided in RIA accommodation. Protection applicants are not required to live in RIA accommodation and in many cases, may move in and out of the direct provision system as their circumstances change. The statistics below set out the numbers of persons currently residing in RIA accommodation and the length of time that has elapsed since they first submitted their applications for international protection. This does not necessarily mean that those persons have lived in RIA accommodation for all of that period. These persons may have left RIA accommodation and then returned or, indeed, these persons may never have been in RIA accommodation until recently.

Secondly, the statistics do not include children whose parents have not yet presented them to be registered as asylum seekers, nor does it include any Irish citizen children in the centres. So, in total, there are approximately 5,215 persons overall currently residing in RIA accommodation.

In relation to the specific statistics sought, there are 539 persons residing in the direct provision system who made their applications for international protection less than one year ago; 630 between one and two years; 770 between two and three years; 945 between three and four years; 812 between four and five years; 670 between five and six years; 397 between six and seven years; and 272 more than seven years ago.

The length of time spent in the direct provision system is affected by a number of factors and depends on the individual circumstances of each case. For example, RIA accommodates those who have initiated Judicial Review proceedings - in respect of decisions made at the ORAC and RAT stage of the process as well as in respect of deportation orders - the effect of which is to delay a final decision as to whether they are removed or allowed to stay in the State. Further delays are caused by applications for asylum for children being made only after their parents' own claims have concluded with the issuance of deportation orders. The deportation process itself can itself be prolonged by difficulties in getting travel documents from the countries to where the person is being sent and by a lack of cooperation on the part of the intended deportee in having travel documents issued by the embassy or consulate involved.