Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I have considered these reports and recommendations. The position is that the Reception & Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department is responsible for the administration of the system of Direct Provision accommodation. Currently, there are 4,365 asylum seekers being accommodated in 34 accommodation centres throughout the State under contract to RIA.

The operation of the Direct Provision system is kept under constant review and I have consistently acknowledged that the length of time that residents spend in Direct Provision is an issue to be addressed. I have no desire to have applicants remain in the protection system any longer than the minimum period it takes to process their case. The direct provision system is not ideal but it is a system which facilitates the State providing a roof over the head of those seeking asylum or seeking other grounds to be allowed, on humanitarian grounds, to stay in the State. It allows the State to do it in a manner that facilitates resources being used economically in circumstances where the State is under financial difficulty.

No Government can afford to ignore the likely consequences of any change to the Direct Provision system. The system cannot exist solely in its own context. It is inextricably linked to the surrounding international protection process. By its very nature, the processing of applications for international protection is a solemn and complex task which does not always lend itself to achieving speedy outcomes. The overall length of time taken to process asylum application cases to their finality is determined not just by the length of time taken to process the cases by the independent refugee determination bodies and by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) but also by the time needed to determine the outcome of any legal proceedings taken by the applicant during that process. A substantial proportion of cases in the High Court relate to judicial review proceedings taken or decisions reached in the international protection area.

My resolve therefore is to deal with the factors which lead to delays in the processing of cases so that asylum seekers spend as little time as is necessary in that accommodation system. To that end, the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, which I will re-publish later this year, should substantially simplify and streamline the existing arrangements for asylum, subsidiary protection and leave to remain applications. It will do this by making provision for the establishment of a single application procedure, so that applicants can be provided with a final decision on all aspects of their protection application in a more straight forward and timely fashion. I have also recently signed into law new Regulations relating to the processing of subsidiary protection applications. Once the new arrangements have bedded down, the aim is for subsidiary protection applications currently on hand to be processed to finality by the statutory bodies concerned in the shortest possible time frame consistent with quality and fair assessment of all cases and of course, subject to the cooperation of applicants and no further legal impediments arising.

In those circumstances it is anticipated that very significant inroads can be made on the caseload by the end of 2014.

In relation to children in the Direct Provision system, I have recounted in detail to the Oireachtas on numerous occasions the ways in which RIA affords the highest priority to the safeguarding and protection of children. These include the full implementation of the Children First Guidelines as well Garda vetting of all RIA centre staff. RIA has a fully staffed Child and Family Services Unit, the head of which is seconded from the HSE. Moreover, details of the types of facilities and supports available to children are provided on RIA's Annual Report for 2012 which can be found on the website at www.ria.gov.ie. Its 2013 Annual Report will be published before the end of March, 2014.