Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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375. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount paid to private operators in respect of the housing of persons seeking international protection in each of the years 2010 to 2019 and in each month of 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9200/20]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy that all accommodation centres for people seeking international protection, whether State-owned or privately owned, are operated by commercial companies under contract. There are currently 44 accommodation centres being operated under the Direct Provision reception system. 

My Department contracts for an all-inclusive service, which includes catering services, as well as cleaning, maintenance and laundry services. I attach an extensive and detailed table of information on the amount paid by my Department to each company contracted to provide direct provision accommodation every year up to the end of 2017.  It is the Department's policy not to disclose financial information on individual contracts for the most recent two years. This was agreed with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

The Deputy will appreciate that it is not appropriate to provide the current individual contract values 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 the 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 following table provides a breakdown by year of my Department's expenditure on the ‘direct provision’ system in the years 2010 to end of April 2020.

Table on Expenditure Type 

Table of Accommodation contract information to end 2017

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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376. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons seeking international protection who are housed in emergency accommodation in County Monaghan; the number of settings concerned; the location of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9201/20]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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There are currently 234 persons seeking international protection staying in five emergency locations in County Monaghan. Additionally,  St. Patrick's Accommodation Centre, outside Monaghan Town, currently accommodates 264 persons.

My Department does not generally disclose the location of emergency accommodation centres in order to protect the identity of international protection applicants and other private guests, as such premises are often open to the public.  While this may not generally be the case at the present time, as we have moved to ensure that such premises only accommodate international protection applicants to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission, the premises may again return to mixed use once current restrictions are eased further.

Every effort is being made by my Department to re-accommodate applicants from emergency locations in hotels and guesthouses to a dedicated accommodation centre as quickly as possible, where we can provide the full range of State services and supports. 

A public procurement tender process for designated accommodation centres in the Borders Region is currently ongoing. The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot comment on an ongoing tender process.