Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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56. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the proposed minimum standards on direct provision; when he plans to publish same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26877/19]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I and my colleague Minister Charles Flanagan T.D. have recently approved new standards for direct provision accommodation centres. They were prepared by a Standards Advisory Group, established in 2017 and comprising officials from my Department, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the HSE National Office for Social Inclusion as well as representatives from AkiDwA, Children's Rights Alliance, the Core Group of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, the Jesuit Refugee Service, SPIRASI, and the UNHCR. The Standards address a range of themes including accommodation provided for those people seeking the protection of the State, food and catering, individual, community and family life, health and wellbeing, governance and meeting the special reception needs of applicants. They therefore build on the work done in the 2015 McMahon Report and meet the requirements of the Recast Reception Directive.

The standards went out for public consultation last year which included dedicated information workshops at a number of accommodation centres.

It is planned to launch the standards next month. The current procurement process in respect of direct provision accommodation was designed with a view to ensuring that all direct provision accommodation will adhere to these standards, when they come into force on January 2021.