Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 January 2013
551. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he visited Hatch Hall or any other direct provision centre last year, including the names of those centres; and if he will state the purpose and outcome of each visit. [3753/13]
View answerAs Minister for Justice and Equality, it is important to me that I have an on-the-ground understanding of the services provided by my Department and its agencies. It was to that end that I visited the asylum seeker accommodation centre at Hatch Hall, Hatch Street, Dublin 2 on 22 November last. This was my first visit to such a centre but I intend to visit at least one other later this year.
I was shown around the centre in the company of centre management staff and officials from the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), a functional unit of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department responsible for the accommodation of persons while their applications for international protection are being processed. Towards the end of visit I met with several residents in the centre with whom I discussed a number of their concerns, mainly relating to the length of time spent in the direct provision system.
Hatch Hall is one of 35 centres currently under contract to RIA, accommodating approximately 4,900 residents. The centres operate in accordance with the Government policy of direct provision. Under this system, RIA provides full board accommodation and ancillary services to asylum seekers while they await a final decision on their asylum and related applications. RIA also works with other State service providers, including the HSE, Department of Social Protection and the Department of Education, to ensure that the necessary ancillary services are provided to the residents.
In relation to the broader asylum issues arising from my visit to the centre, particularly the complexity and length of the associated processes, it confirms to me that my efforts should remain concentrated on speeding up the processing of applications, primarily by redeploying staff from the refugee determination bodies. The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, 2010, which I intend to republish, provides for the introduction of a single procedure to determine applications for protection and other reasons to remain in the State. This should substantially simplify and streamline the existing arrangements. This reorganisation of the protection application processing framework will remove the current multi-layered processes and provide applicants with a final decision on their applications in a more straightforward and timely fashion.
Finally, I recently approved an initiative to put in place a panel with legal expertise who will assist INIS in processing a cohort of repatriation cases, thus speeding up the overall process and reducing the time spent by persons in the direct provision system. I would expect to see significant dividends, in terms of cases finalised, from this initiative in the coming months.
