Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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103. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the planned changes to direct provision; and the timeframe for their implementation. [44535/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the majority of the recommendations contained in the McMahon report are either implemented or are being implemented.  Full details of the status of these recommendations are available on the website of the Department at  

While I do not propose to go through any of the recommendations in detail I would like to note in particular developments in a small number of specific areas pertinent to my Department.

The key recommendation underpinning the Justice McMahon Report was to address the length of time taken to process applications, which consequently leads to long stays in State provided accommodation. With the commencement of the International Protection Act 2015 on 31 December last, we now have a single application procedure. This is the biggest reform to our protection process in two decades.  It means that an applicant will have all aspects of their claim, refugee status, subsidiary protection status, and permission to remain, examined and determined in one process. Our intention is to provide first instance decisions in the shortest possible timeframe.

Significant additional resources have been put in place to facilitate this, both at first instance and appeal level and it is expected that further resources will be assigned in the coming period. The landscape of processing and delay has substantially changed. When the Justice McMahon Report was published in 2015, 36% of applicants were in the Direct Provision system for three years or less. This figure is now 72%, which represents a radical improvement.  

Substantial reforms to the living conditions of applicants in the centres have also been made.  Most significantly, in the Mosney Centre we have established a Food Hall where residents can shop for their own food, based on a points system, which they can then cook in their own homes. On a visit to Mosney for the Friends of the Centre Family Day in July, Justice McMahon praised the centre, saying it provided a template for other State provided accommodation centres to follow. Cooking facilities have also been provided in centres such as Kinsale Road, and Clonakilty in Cork and St. Patrick’s in Monaghan to enable individual families to cook for themselves. This is an important part of everyday family life and these facilities will be rolled out to all family centres into the future. In some instances structural work is needed to provide these facilities which by definition impacts on delivery times.  

An increase to the disposable income for adults and children living in State provide accommodation was provided earlier this year. Since the Justice McMahon Report, we have more than doubled the weekly rate of Direct Provision Allowance for children. A Taskforce chaired by my Department and with representatives from a wide range of Departments and Agencies is currently examining the Supreme Court judgement on the right to work and is expected to produce its recommendations in the near future.

Improvements continue to be implemented across the facilities and services provided by my Department to those in the protection process and this work will continue until it is completed.