Target for end to direct provision to be revised as numbers spiral
picture: The Changed' Said Direct Has Pletely Roderic Carson/pa Niall On 'ground Provision O'gorman
Revised targets for ending direct provision are to be issued by Government in the coming weeks.
Despite Programme for Government commitments to end direct provision and a Green Party white paper in 2021 anticipating the closure of all direct provision centres by the end of 2024, these targets will now be revised as “the ground has completely changed”.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman said the target of ending direct provision by the end of next year was based on contemporary figures when 3,500 people were entering the country seeking international protection.
“The ground has completely changed and we have to change the assumptions upon which the white paper was based as well,” Mr O’Gorman said.
Increasing numbers of people have been seeking protection in Ireland and the State is currently accommodating some 93,000 people — 70,000 Ukrainians and 23,000 international protection applicants — he said.
“But also, the white paper was not just about accommodation, it was about integration and support, and we’ve worked a lot on those two headings since the white paper was published. We now have staff in every local authority focused on integrating international protection applicants in that area," he said.
“International protection applicants can work after six months, they can get a driving licence, they can get a bank account. They were all steps they could not take previously and really limited their ability to take part in society as well.
“Accommodation will continue to be a pressure for the lifetime of this Government and I imagine the next government as well.”
An advisory body has recommended that emergency powers including compulsory purchase of land, should be used to deliver six new reception and integration centres for asylum seekers.
Reacting to the possible issuing of compulsory purchase orders on land for reception centres, Mr O’Gorman said that more should be done to secure State-owned accommodation.
“I hope to bring forward proposals to bring forward more State-owned accommodation at scale," he said.
“We are too reliant on the private sector at the moment for accommodation for international protection applicants.
“When you have State-owned accommodation you have better control over standards but you also have better control over costs as well,” he said.