Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

103. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons being accommodated at each reception centre in counties Limerick and Clare; the official capacity of each reception centre; the number of persons being accommodated in excess of the capacity of each centre; the annual running cost of each centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8833/19]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The statistical data the Deputy requires is detailed in the following table. The figures are representative of a particular point in time. This data is from 10th February 2019.

Number of persons accommodated in counties Limerick and Clare

Annual Costs

Extensive and detailed information on the amount paid by my Department to each company contracted to provide direct provision accommodation every year up to and including 2015 can be found on the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) website www.ria.gov.ie under the 'Contract Values' section of the website - . The annual value of payments for accommodation and ancillary services for centres in Clare and Limerick in 2015 were €1,927,010 for Knockalisheen in County Clare and €1,278,076 for Hanratty’s Hotel and €854,564 for Mount Trenchard in County Limerick.

This is in accordance with the RIA's policy on disclosure of financial information which was agreed with the Office of the Information Commissioner. Under this policy, a table of contract values is published on the RIA website, excluding the most recent previous two years. Therefore, in 2018, contract values up to 2015 were published on the website. Contract values for 2016 will be published by the end of Q1 of 2019 and contract values for 2017 will be published in 2020. The Deputy will appreciate that it is not appropriate to provide values for current contracts entered into by my Department. Negotiations take place with a number of commercial entities on an on-going basis with a clear focus on achieving the best value for money in respect of each contract. It is not in the interests of yielding best value for the taxpayer that details of current individual contracts are made available to other commercial bodies who are, or may be in the future, engaged in these negotiations.

The annual value of payments for accommodation and ancillary services for centres in Clare and Limerick in 2015 were €1,927,010 for Knockalisheen in County Clare and €1,278,076 for Hanratty’s Hotel and €854,564 for Mount Trenchard in County Limerick. The overall cost to the State of providing the accommodation and related services for residents in Direct Provision centres on a nationwide basis is on average €34 per resident per day.