Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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291. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of money spent on the direct provision system over the past eight years; and the companies to whom those payments were made. [42845/14]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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303. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide, in tabular form, a list of contracts awarded to, and amounts paid to, the owners and operators of direct provision centres from the establishment of the direct provision system to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42995/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 291 and 303 together.

The direct provision system is managed by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department. For the most part, this represents a cashless system with the State assuming responsibility for providing suitable accommodation for asylum seekers on a full board basis. Currently, there are approximately 4,300 residents in 34 centres across the State under contract to RIA.

Prior to 2003 payments to management companies in the State-owned sector and contractors in the commercial sector were made by the relevant local authority which in turn recouped that expenditure from the Department of the Environment and Local Government. From 2003 on, RIA has paid the contractors directly. Below is a list showing RIA's expenditure outturn for each of the years 2003 to 2014 inclusive: