Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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146. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth given the HIQA overview report on the first year of inspecting international protection accommodation centres, published on 5 March 2025, found that 56% of centres inspected did not have effective governance and management arrangements in place, had poor, or no, reporting systems, and that 35% of staff across the centres HIQA inspected in 2024 were not appropriately vetted by An Garda Síochána, if she will now initiate a review of the granting of IPAS contracts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20838/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you for your question, Deputy.

The Department has welcomed the publication by HIQA of its 2024 overview report on inspections of over 50 International Protection Accommodation Centres.

The report made many positive findings of compliance with the National Standards identified in this report, and also acknowledged that partial compliance and non-compliance with the National Standards have been identified during the course of these inspections.

HIQA found that many service providers ensured that their centres were of a good standard and that the services they were delivering were safe, of a high quality and promoted and protected the rights of residents.

The Department and I welcome the comments from HIQA noting improvements in centres during the period, and that most adults, children and young people reported generally positive experiences living in IPAS accommodation centres.

Of the over 800 adult residents HIQA met as part of their review, 88% said they felt safe in their accommodation and 79% said the centre supported them to live meaningful lives. Of the over 300 children and young people HIQA met, 79% said their centre was a safe place.

In terms of vetting, the Garda National Vetting Bureau prioritises vetting of staff for family accommodation centres where children are accommodated. This is because under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016, all staff of international protection accommodation centres who work with children are required to be Garda Vetted prior to commencing employment. Staff working at centres where children are not accommodated may be within the cohort of staff reported as awaiting vetting within this review.

Where any centre, following an inspection, had areas of partial or non-compliance identified, a bespoke Compliance Plan was agreed, noting the specific and time-bound measures which have to be taken in order to ensure full compliance with the National Standards and HIQA. IPAS have noted that ongoing improvement is seen in compliance through this process.

The seven key recommendations made by HIQA within the report and HIQA’s commitment to engaging with Government will continue to support and inform future plans for the development of the sector.