Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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28. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress being made on her commitment in February 2015 to allow asylum seekers living in direct provision to have their complaints independently examined by the Ombusdman and the Ombudsman for Children in line with the recommendations of the 2015 working group report, Improvements to the Protection Process, including Direct Provision and Supports to Asylum Seekers (details supplied); her views on the lack of action on this commitment in principle and the timeline of actions for ensuring that children living in direct provision have access to the services of the Ombudsman for Children. [29406/16]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Work is underway to extend the remit of the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children to cover services delivered to persons living in Direct Provision, including children. Extending the remit of both Ombudsmen requires a legislative change. The matter has been referred to the Office of the Attorney General for advice on implementation of the legislative change.

The Reception & Integration Agency (RIA) made arrangements for representatives from the Offices of both Ombudsmen to make presentations on the work of those Offices to accommodation centre staff and State service providers during the Autumn series of regional Inter-Agency meetings. Further dedicated sessions will be held with the Offices of both Ombudsmen which will provide more detail and guidance on best practice in the management of complaints.

Direct Provision policy itself is structured through mainstream State services. That is, health services are provided directly by HSE; education is provided directly through local schools; community welfare supports are provided through the Community Welfare Services; and child welfare and associated supports are provided by local Tusla teams. Residents of RIA accommodation centres engage with these services in the same way as Irish citizens and therefore have the same rights to appeal decisions or make complaints through the relevant Departmental channels and through the relevant Ombudsmen where appropriate and necessary.

In addition, RIA has administrative arrangements in place with both Ombudsman Offices, through the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS), to assist and provide information on matters brought to its attention by those Offices.