Asylum Support Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 June 2013

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Ceisteanna (459)

Clare Daly

Ceist:

459. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown of the numbers of persons within direct provision, who made their application for protection more than five years ago, and are respectively awaiting deportation, seeking subsidiary protection or leave to remain, or have a judicial attachment to their application; the number who are children and the options available to persons who have had their application rejected but are stateless or non-returnable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30327/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers in accordance with the Government policy of direct provision and dispersal. It is important to note that RIA itself has no function in determining whether someone should stay or not in its accommodation. Its function is to provide accommodation and related services to those who have sought international protection and who otherwise have no means of supporting themselves.

In essence, RIA accommodates all those who make a claim for international protection and who seek accommodation until such time as they:

(i) leave voluntarily;

(ii) are removed - either by way of deportation or Dublin II transfer;

(iii) are granted refugee status or subsidiary protection;

or

(iv) are granted leave to remain, either through the process set out in the Immigration Act, 1999 or by way of special scheme such as the 2005 IBC scheme.

The following is a breakdown of RIA residents giving details of the numbers of adults and children from the date of their initial asylum application. It is important to note that protection applicants are not required to live in RIA accommodation and in many cases may move in and out of the direct provision system as their circumstances change. Therefore, while the statistics below will show the length of time that has elapsed since those persons who are currently availing of RIA accommodation made their initial application, this does not necessarily mean that they have been residing in RIA accommodation for all of that time.

Number of years from initial application	Adult	Children	Total
0-1 year	286	150	436
1-2 years	211	175	386
2-3 years	243	242	485
3-4 years	350	236	586
4-5 years	464	243	707
5-6 years	495	200	695
6-7 years	361	163	524
7 + years	443	122	565
Total	2853*	1531	4384

*These figures are taken from the AISIP database and are unreconciled with the current daily centre registers.

The other specific details requested are currently being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy directly.