Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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157. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of adults and children in direct provision in each of the past four years; the country of origin; the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the McMahon Report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28098/18]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The Report of the Working Group to Report to Government on Improvements to the Protection Process, including Direct Provision and Supports to Asylum Seekers, also known as the Justice McMahon report, was published in June 2015. Its recommendations have implications for a number of Government Departments and services.

My Department has since published three progress reports on the implementation of its 173 recommendations; the first in June 2016, the second in February of 2017 and a third and final report in July of 2017. All three reports are available to view on my Department's website www.justice.ie.  

The final progress report shows that 133 recommendations have been reported as fully implemented and a further 36 are in progress or partially implemented. This represents a 98% full or partial implementation rate.

The improvements to living conditions for applicants for international protection have been significant over recent years. These include the implementation of self or communal catering arrangements in a number of accommodation centres. As a result of this initiative, over 1,500 residents are now able to prepare meals of their own choosing.  In addition, there have been improvements to a number of outdoor playgrounds and football pitches to provide for ‘all-weather’ facilities and the introduction of teenagers rooms in centres to provide social areas for this age group.  Friends of the Centre groups have also been established in each centre.  This initiative aims to bring residents, community and voluntary groups together with a view to increasing integration opportunities and providing for the development of greater community linkages with the residents and the centre.

Following on from the McMahon Report, a Standards Advisory Group was set up in 2017.  The work of this group is to build on the recommendations of McMahon and to develop a set of standards for accommodation provided for those people seeking the protection of the State. The Standards will meet the minimum standards set out in the Recast Reception Conditions Directive and EASO Guidance on Reception Conditions: Operational Standards and Indicators and will also take account of national developments in the provision of services to those in the protection process. They will take due cognisance of the responsibility to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of  employees, customers, service users and everyone affected by policies and plans as defined by the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty. The group is comprised of members from a range of organisations supporting refugees as well as staff from a number of government Departments and will deliver a Working Document in September 2018 following widespread consultation

The Government approved an opt into the EU (Recast) Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU). The decision to opt-in to the Directive will bring Ireland into line with our EU partners and place the entire system on a legislative basis, which will be subject to EU oversight. This is a significant and positive measure, not only in addressing the issue of labour market access, but also extending to children’s rights, rights for unaccompanied minors, vulnerable people, new appeals processes, healthcare and education provision. By opting into the Directive, another important recommendation of the Justice McMahon report will be implemented bringing Ireland into line with the European Union norms.

I remain fully committed to working with all stakeholders, some of whom will have differing views on the extent of implementation of some recommendations, to ensure the continuing implementation of a wide range of reforms in this area, including those recommended by the Justice McMahon report.

Number of people in Direct Provision accommodation as of 22.06.2018 broken down by Nationality and Adult/Child:

The historical information provided in relation to the years 2014 – 2016 below is taken from the Annual Reports of the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department which are available on their website www.ria.gov.ie under the ‘publications’ heading.  The 2017 Annual Report of RIA has not been published yet and, therefore, the figures provided for that year have been taken from the monthly report for December 2017 which is also publicly available on the RIA website.

As described in the published RIA reports, the statistics with regards to numbers and demographics of those in RIA accommodation are primarily drawn from two sources.  The first source is from centre weekly returns, based on a ‘snapshot’ of occupancy each Sunday evening. In other cases, in order to get a demographic breakdown of RIA residents, statistics are produced from the RIA database. As a matter of course, there is usually a slight discrepancy between the numbers sourced by both methods, as the daily numbers “on the ground” in centres, as per the centre returns, has to be processed by RIA staff and subsequently reflected “live on system” on the database. 

At the end of 2017, RIA was accommodating 5,096 persons and 5,344 (3,924 Adults and 1,420 Children) were recorded as live on the database.  The top five nationalities for RIA residents that year were: Pakistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Albania.

At the end of 2016, RIA was accommodating 4,425 persons and 4,465 (3,334 Adults and 1,131 Children) were recorded as live on the database.  The top five nationalities for RIA residents that year were: Pakistan Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Albania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the end of 2015, RIA was accommodating 4,696 persons and 4,885 (3,673 Adults and 1,212 Children) were recorded as live on the database.  The top five nationalities for RIA residents that year were: Pakistan, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

At the end of 2014, RIA was accommodating 4,364 persons, and 4,275 (2,823 Adults and 1,452 Children) were recorded as live on the database. The top five nationalities for RIA residents that year were: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

It is important to note that not all of those who apply for international protection choose to reside in Direct Provision accommodation and that there are also people residing in Direct Provision that are no longer in the protection process (such as those that have received international protection status or have Deportation Orders issued against them and are obliged to remove themselves from the State).