Vol. 518 No. 2
2 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will make a statement on the proposed establishment of a new agency to deal with the reception of asylum seekers and the integration of refugees; its terms of reference; if it will be independent of his Department; if it will have its own budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11172/00]
On 28 March 2000 the Government agreed with my recommendations for a statutory agency, under the aegis of my Department, to be called the reception and integration agency. Pending the enactment of legislation, the agency will operate on a non-statutory basis.
This decision follows an earlier decision of the Government that the recommendations in the report of the interdepartmental working group on the integration of refugees in Ireland should form the framework for integration policy and should be implemented. The establishment of a single organisational structure, within the overall framework of structures for asylum and immigration, for co-ordinating and implementing integration policy is one of the key recommendations of the working group.
The reception and integration agency will be the vehicle for implementing this recommendation and its establishment will facilitate a cohesive, co-ordinated approach to both the reception of asylum seekers and integration of refugees. It will have responsibility for planning and co-ordinating the provision of services to both asylum seekers and refugees; co-ordinating and implementing integration policy for all refugees and persons who, though not refugees, are granted leave to remain; and responding to conflict crises which result in relatively large numbers of refugees arriving in Ireland within a short period of time, for example, the Kosovar nationals who were invited here by the Government this time last year.
I intend to bring legislative proposals to Government to put the agency on a statutory basis at the earliest date. As the Government has not yet had the opportunity to consider proposals, any definitive comment by me at this stage in relation to delegation of authority or budgetary control would be pre-emptive. However, in line with the Government's strategic management initiative and the approach adopted in regard to other agencies in the justice area, I will be recommending that the agency will have operational independence in its day to day activities, with its own board and budget.
I thank the Minister for his reply. When is the agency likely to be established? In the announcement he made, the Minister suggested that the agency would report to a statutory board comprising representatives of relevant Departments. That indicates that the board will not have a great deal of independence. Will he outline how the board will operate? Does the Minister still intend to proceed with the proposal to use flotels to accommodate asylum seekers? There has been a negative reaction to the proposal and my party does not consider that method of accommodation appropriate for asylum seekers.
Does the Minister agree that speed and efficiency are important in this area, given that the Minister of State at the Department of For eign Affairs indicated that she considered attempts to deal with the asylum issue to be "a shambles" and that there has been a great deal of confusion in dealing with the issue? It is commonly felt that the issue should be addressed speedily and efficiently. The reception and integration agency will have the capacity to improve the situation. How soon does the Minister expect it to be up and running?
I intend to bring forward legislative proposals to the Government at the earliest date to establish the agency on a statutory basis, but the Deputy will be aware that there is a heavy legislative workload in the Department. I assure her that legislative measures to establish the authority will receive the priority they deserve within the Department.
With regard to the independence of the new agency, the approach we have adopted in other areas of the Department, in line with the Government's strategic management initiative, is to ensure that, while the agency will be politically accountable to the Government and the Oireachtas through the Minister, it will have operational independence. That has been done in other agencies and that is why I envisage a separate board, budget etc. for the reception and integration agency. I anticipate that it will be independent but there must be political accountability, otherwise I would not be able to answer the Deputy in the House in regard to its performance.
I do not want to repeat all the measures which have been taken or the legislative proposals which have been brought forward in the recent past in regard to establishing structures to process asylum applications expeditiously. However, it has been necessary to ensure that people would not be obliged to sleep on the streets, in public parks or in the doorways of houses. I was about to run out of conventional accommodation and, therefore, I had to examine unconventional accommodation options. In that context, the Deputy will be aware, for example, that I have signed orders in regard to the Army barracks in Athlone, Tralee and Kildare and work is continuing to provide a certain amount of accommodation for asylum seekers at these locations. Flotels would not be my first accommodation option. I am trying my best to provide people with decent, comfortable accommodation in conventional locations but once we run out of such locations, I must opt for unconventional accommodation. I do not have a choice. Nonetheless, we can purchase premises in places such as Rosslare for reception centres and at other locations throughout the country. I will continue to try, in so far as I possibly can, to accommodate asylum seekers on land.
