Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 487: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will report on the Clondalkin Towers Refugee Centre, on the Ninth Lock Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, with information provided on the following, the total number of persons currently residing there; the number of families residing there; the number of rooms in the Clondalkin Towers Refugee Centre; the average number of persons sleeping in each room; the facilities available for each family; the average length of time persons remain there; the number of persons who have resided there in the past who have been granted asylum; the proportion of persons who have resided there in the past who have been refused asylum; and any other information which he deems relevant for an assessment of the conditions in which asylum seekers are living in at the Clondalkin Towers Refugee Centre, and if he is satisfied that these are acceptable conditions in which to accommodate asylum seekers. [27960/12]

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

The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers through the Government policy of direct provision while their applications for asylum are being processed. The system provides asylum seekers with full board accommodation, free of utility or other costs.

The Clondalkin Towers Accommodation Centre, Ninth Lock Road, Clondalkin is one of currently 37 centres within the RIA accommodation portfolio. There are 222 asylum seekers currently residing in Clondalkin Towers. Out of those 222 persons, there are 47 family units (i.e. parent/s with children). There are 78 bedrooms in the centre and the number of persons assigned to any particular room is based on the size of the room.

Facilities for families in Clondalkin Towers include an indoor play area, equipment for which has been grant approved by Pobal, and a preschool.

The 2011 Annual Report by RIA will shortly be published on its website - www.ria.gov.ie. This will provide, inter alia, a full overall breakdown of each centre, including Clondalkin Towers, at the end of 2011 in terms of residents' gender, nationality and age.

Asylum seekers are not assigned to particular centres based at the stage they are at in the asylum determination system. Neither does the centre they're residing in have any bearing whatsoever on the outcome of their claim for international protection. Therefore, no statistics are maintained in relation to these aspects of the question, as to maintain such statistics would have no practical benefit.

Clondalkin Towers is one element of the system of direct provision system and dispersal and that system is one of the central features of the State's response to the asylum issue. I am satisfied that, through the coordinated service delivery under this system, the treatment of asylum seekers here is at least on a par with that of any other country and that it delivers a high standard of service and value for money to the taxpayer.