Vol. 568 No. 1
642 Ms Lynch asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons who have applied for asylum here since the public health doctors strike began on 14 April 2003; and the number of asylum seekers who have been dispersed to each health board area since 14 April 2003. [15500/03]
The number of persons who have applied for asylum since 14 April 2003 is 1,082. The Reception and Integration Agency, which operates under the aegis of my Department, is charged with responsibility for implementing Government policy on direct provision and dispersal of all newly arrived asylum seekers. The agency is currently operating 64 direct provision asylum seeker accommodation centres located across 24 counties. A key determinant in providing accommodation for asylum seekers is maintaining in as much as possible a sensitive, balanced and proportional approach nationwide. The distribution of asylum seekers in direct provision centres across health board areas is such that in no case do the numbers exceed one fifth of 1% of the population of the health board area.
On arrival in the State, newly arrived asylum seekers are accommodated in reception centres in the Dublin area for ten to 14 days during which time they are offered health screening, their ongoing needs are assessed and their family profiles determined. After this initial assessment period, they are dispersed to accommodation centres throughout the State which have vacancies best suited to meeting their needs. The number of asylum seekers who have been dispersed to each health board since 14 April 2003 is set out in the following table:
|
Health Boards |
SHB |
MHB |
WHB |
MWHB |
NWHB |
NEHB |
ERHA |
SEHB |
Total |
|
April (16, 23, 30) |
46 |
12 |
18 |
38 |
6 |
38 |
4 |
162 |
|
|
May (6, 9, 14, 19, 22, 26, 28) |
182 |
10 |
11 |
64 |
63 |
29 |
359 |
||
|
June (3) |
24 |
19 |
43 |
||||||
|
Total |
252 |
12 |
28 |
68 |
6 |
102 |
67 |
29 |
564* |
