Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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344. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to develop and introduce national standards for persons living in emergency accommodation centres or reception centres that include a component that considers child safeguarding, in conjunction with HIQA, in the context of international protection. [22631/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Providing reception conditions – accommodation and other basic supports – to international protection (IP) applicants is part of Irish and EU law and is also part of our humanitarian duty to provide shelter to people fleeing war and persecution in their home country.

The State is currently accommodating over 33,000 people who have applied for IP in Ireland, about 9,000 of whom are children with their families. The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) provides accommodation in over 320 centres around the country.

All IPAS centres, including those designated as emergency centres, are required to adhere to the Children First legislation and National Guidance. All managers of IPAS centres are mandated persons under the Children First Act. Each centre is required to have a Child Safeguarding Statement and to implement the IPAS Child Protection Policy.

A principal social worker within IPAS is designated as child safeguarding lead. The Child Safeguarding Lead meets all managers of centres with children as new centres open. The principal social worker and her team at IPAS engage with managers to ensure they appoint a Designated Liaison Person (DLP) under Children First and staff complete the mandatory Children First e-learning module.

IPAS provides a programme of Child Protection briefings to management and staff in all IPAS accommodation centres with children. The main focus is on reporting child welfare and protection concerns to Tusla and An Garda Síochána (AGS). During these briefings they also engage with centre managers in relation to all related child safeguarding procedures.

The IPAS Child Safeguarding Statement, August 2023 was deemed compliant by the Tusla Child Safeguarding Statement Compliance Unit (CSSU) and is published on the IPAS website. IPAS is scheduled to publish its revised Child Safeguarding Policy in Q2 2025 which will replace the current policy which is also available on the IPAS website, at: gov.ie/IPAS.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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345. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to conduct an annual audit in respect of the protection the human rights of persons residing in emergency accommodation or reception centres. [22632/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Providing reception conditions – accommodation and other basic supports – to people seeking international protection is part of Irish and EU law and is also part of our humanitarian duty to provide shelter to people fleeing war and persecution in their home country.

While there is no current proposal to conduct an audit such as the Deputy mentions, accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is subject to rigorous inspection and oversight, and centres are contractually obligated to be maintained to national standards, with independent inspection and quality control through either the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) or through IPAS-commissioned inspections.

Residents are encouraged to engage with the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) if they are unhappy with any aspect of their accommodation. Where a complaint is significant in nature or a resident is not comfortable raising a complaint with a centre manager, they may make the complaint directly, or through a representative authorised to act on their behalf, to the IPAS Customer Service Team.

A range of advocacy organisations work with IP applicants both in IPAS centres and individually and can provide advice and support to ensure their rights are known and understood and can be vindicated during their application process period.

In the event of a resident not feeling comfortable with contacting the Department directly or the centre management, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) operate a confidential support helpline for all residents being accommodated by IPAS. The Freephone helpline is operated by the JRS. If a resident wishes, a complaint made through this service may be passed, in confidence, to IPAS for investigation and resolution. All residents have access to this independent support helpline.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) helpline contact number is 1800 929 00 or email: info@jrs.ie.

All international protection applicants have access to the services of the Ombudsman and Office of the Ombudsman for Children, should they consider that their complaint has not been managed appropriately.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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346. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to enhance education and physical educational opportunities for persons under the age of 18 living in emergency accommodation or reception centres. [22634/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Providing reception conditions to international protection (IP) applicants is part of Irish and EU law and is also part of our humanitarian duty to provide shelter to people fleeing war and persecution in their home country.

The State is currently accommodating over 33,000 people in over 320 international protection accommodation centres around the country.

The provision of accommodation, health, education, income and other supports, as appropriate, to both IP applicants and those fleeing the war in Ukraine, is a whole-of-government emergency response.

A range of departments, agencies, service providers, and local authorities are involved in the accommodation, resettlement, and integration process.

This includes the departments of Health, Education, Transport, HSE, An Garda Síochána, the Local Government Management Agency, the local integration teams and local development office for the area.

As the education of all children seeking international protection is mainstreamed in Ireland, further questions regarding education should be directed to Minister for Education.