Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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372. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the numbers of persons in the direct provision system for less than six and between six and 12 months; the numbers in excess of one, two, three, four, five, six and seven years, respectively; the corresponding figures for children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29964/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As of 11 October 2020, a total of 7,014 people are recorded by my Department as being resident in accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS), of whom 1,887 are children. This includes people who are resident in Direct Provision centres, in emergency accommodation in hotels and guesthouses and in Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres used to accommodate refugees admitted under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).

The table below shows the number of people in accommodation broken down by their length of stay and whether they are an adult or a child.

These figures represent continuous periods of residence and cannot reflect interrupted residential periods where the person may have left our accommodation and returned at a later stage. In addition, these figures only relate to persons who have registered with the International Protection Office (IPO) and does not reflect children resident in the centres who may not have been registered by their parents.

The length of time a person stays in state provided accommodation generally reflects the length of time taken to reach a final conclusion on their application for international protection or other permission to reside in the State and may also include applications to revoke Deportation Orders. As the application process also allows for legal challenges against negative decisions at many stages of the process, the time taken to finalise many cases can be prolonged.

There are also more than 1,000 residents with an international protection status or a permission to remain in the State. My Department has a specific team who work in collaboration with DePaul Ireland, the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Peter McVerry Trust, officials in the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and the City and County Managers Association to collectively support these residents to access housing options. Between January and September of this year, 900 people have moved to accommodation in the community, of whom 644 received assistance from the support services outlined.

While responsibility for accommodating applicants for international protection is transferring to the new Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Affairs, the system for the processing of international protection applications will remain under my remit. My Department and I will continue to make improvements to facilitate timely decisions while also maintaining the integrity of the system.