Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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454. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the procurement process for accommodation for asylum seekers, that is, direct provision centres. [41498/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Premises are sourced either through a full tender process which is administered through the Government’s Procurement Portal www.etenders.gov.ie or through responses to calls for expressions of interest, which are advertised in the national media. My Department is assisted with these tender projects by the Office of Government Procurement.

The tender process which commenced in late 2018, saw regional tender competitions being advertised, assessed and awarded. The competitions were held for the South East, Midlands, Mid-West, South-West, Mid-East, West, Dublin and the Border Regions.

All properties selected under the tender process must be able to meet the requirements of the National Standards for accommodation centres. This requirement applies to the provision of new centres and to any renewal of a contract with a current provider.

The Standards were published in August 2019 and developed through an Advisory Group including representatives from UNHCR Ireland and the NGO sector. The Standards will come into force in January 2021 and address a range of themes including accommodation; food and catering; individual, community and family life; health and wellbeing; governance; and meeting the special reception needs of applicants. The Standards will ensure that all new accommodation coming on stream must be able to meet the requirements for independent living by the provision of self-catering facilities for residents including a food hall and the availability of separate family spaces outside of bedrooms.  

The provision of accommodation is demand-led, based on the number of applicants arriving to claim international protection and requiring accommodation. Where the State’s accommodation portfolio is not sufficient to meet demand and the tendering process does not identify and bring on stream the required accommodation as quickly as is needed,  we may advertise in the national media for  expressions of interest for the supply of accommodation. The contracts on offer under this process are generally shorter than those available under the tender process.

Offers made under the Expressions of Interest process are assessed under the following criteria:

- A good physical environment,

- Facilities that provide for family life,

- Cooking facilities for residents, where possible,

- Location of property and access to public transport,

- Provision of suitable security arrangements,

- An open and understanding management structure, and

- The ability to develop links with the local community to enhance the experience for residents.

The International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) in my Department assesses offers of accommodation against these criteria and and against the National Standards and identifies those properties which are the most suitable.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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455. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the companies currently providing accommodation to the State for use as direct provision centres; and the sums paid to each of these companies in each of the past five years. [41499/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department currently has contracts in place for 48 accommodation centres, including management contracts for 6 State owned centres.  The 48 centres comprise 45  accommodation centres for International Protection applicants, the National Reception Centre for International Protection applicants in Balseskin, Co. Dublin and 3 Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres (EROC) for refugees brought to Ireland under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).  It should be noted that Mosney Accommodation Centre provides accommodation for both International Protection applicants and, in a separate block, for IRPP clients.

It is our policy not to disclose financial information on individual contracts for the most recent two calendar years. It is not appropriate to provide the current individual contract values entered into by my Department as 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. 

Contract information is published on an annual basis each January and the information for contracts in 2018 is currently being compiled for publication in January 2021.  Details of payments made to contractors are published on .  Our policy document on the release of financial information on contract values is also available on this webpage.

The table below provides the names of each management company currently being utilised by my Department and the amount paid to each company in 2016 and 2017. 

Cells marked N/A indicate that this company is currently an Accommodation Centre contractor but was not contracted by my Department in the years for which financial data is available as per our policy.