Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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259. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce an independent inspection regime for direct provision; and if so, the stage this process is at. [31198/18]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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My Department, through the Reception & Integration Agency (RIA), is responsible for the provision of accommodation and related services to protection applicants while they await a decision on their claim for international protection. The standard of accommodation provided to residents is regularly reviewed. 

All centres are scheduled for inspection at least 3 times a year, twice by staff from RIA and once by an independent inspection service. The inspections examine all rooms in the centre and assess the cleanliness and physical appearance of centres, the quality and variety of food options, health and safety issues and provide residents with the opportunity to report any issues directly to the inspector. These inspection reports are published on the RIA website.

A Working Group comprising of members of the NGO sector and officials from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and my Department has been developing a standards document which will see a high quality of accommodation services being available for persons in the protection process.  A public consultation process on these standards will commence shortly.  Following publication of the standards document, a public procurement process will take place to engage an independent inspection service. The new inspection service will be informed by the standards.