Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2024
453. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how many reports or notices IPAS has received for each of the past five years from management at contracted asylum seeker accommodation centres requesting help for residents in terms of mental health issues, violent behaviour or addiction; and what steps or actions have IPAS undertaken to help residents in those circumstances. [4232/24]
View answerServices for all International Protection applicants, including healthcare, are mainstreamed and accessed through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens. Residents in all International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation centres access GP services within the local community, and mental health services are accessed through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens – that is, through primary care, GP referral and emergency services.
IPAS liaises with the HSE in relation to how best to meet the health and related needs of International Protection Applicants in IPAS centres, including working closely with the HSE Social Inclusion Outreach Team to provide healthcare assistance for residents.
Additionally, IPAS has a dedicated Resident Welfare Team comprising subject matter experts seconded to the team on a full time basis, as well as a number of support officers, who direct applicants with special reception needs within our accommodation, to relevant services or provide other appropriate information, as required.
Where appropriate, the Resident Welfare Team engages with the centre managers and NGOs on-site to ensure that an applicant’s reception needs can be addressed within their current accommodation centre, providing information and support and signposting persons to relevant services. IPAS Social Workers seconded to the Resident Welfare Team are available to help applicants with high levels of vulnerability, and can make onward referrals to services and advocate for vulnerable persons as appropriate.
At 24 January 2024, IPAS’s 265 centres provide accommodation to over 26,000 International Protection Applicants. IPAS receives varying correspondence, notices and reports annually from centre management, other stakeholders and from International Protection Applicants directly, seeking assistance in respect of health concerns, including mental health and addiction. In such cases and as outlined above, IPAS provides guidance and advice to persons to engage with their GP and where required, provides detail of local services available to them.
While IPAS maintains information annually in respect of persons and their health and reception needs, these are utilised to address the individual’s requirements at that point in time. In certain instances, correspondence is addressed to a conclusion, requiring no further action or management.
Please see, in tabular format, the number of incidents recorded under the associated keywords provided by the Deputy.
|
Keyword: |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Mental Health |
10 |
11 |
44 |
4 |
|
Violent Behaviour/Violence |
3 |
65 |
42 |
10 |
|
Addiction |
0 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
