Asylum Seeker Accommodation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 October 2012

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Questions (157)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

157. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current status of the Viking Lodge Hotel Reception and Integrated Agency centre; the plans with respect to its residents; and if he will ensure that in any transfer from Viking Lodge the new accommodation will cater for comparable numbers rather than a large centre which tends to involve more of a sense of institutionalisation and can be overcrowded with knock-on health consequences. [42102/12]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Alan Shatter)

All asylum seeker residents of the Viking Lodge direct provision accommodation in Francis Street, Dublin 8 transferred to the Hatch Hall accommodation centre, Hatch Street, Dublin 2 on 8 September, 2012.

The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department, which is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers under the Direct Provision system, informs me that the transfer went smoothly and the feedback following the move has been positive from all parties concerned. RIA is satisfied with the quality of management in Hatch Hall and does not accept that issues of overcrowding, of an increase in a sense of institutionalisation, or of any knock-on health consequences arise from the transfers to that centre.