Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 November 2016
117. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide information on a direct provision centre (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35744/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Reception & Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department is responsible for the provision of full board accommodation and certain ancillary services to protection applicants in accordance with the Government policy of direct provision. Aside from full board accommodation services provided by RIA, other services, including health and social services, are directly provided for example through the HSE, local schools, community welfare supports and child welfare and associated supports. As access to statutory services for protection applicants is mainstreamed, residents of RIA accommodation centres engage with these services in the same way as Irish citizens and there is no requirement therefore for a contract to underpin service provision.
The Deputy will be aware that Section 19 of the Refugee Act of 1996 (as amended) requires the State to take all practical steps to ensure that the identity of protection applicants is kept confidential. Bearing this in mind, some of the details requested by the Deputy can be found below.
The official address of the Athlone Accommodation centre is Lissywollen, Ballymahon Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath.
Campbell Catering Ltd, t/a Aramark Ireland currently hold the contract for the management of the centre. There are currently 185 persons residing there comprising 46 children and 139 adults.
As previously outlined, access to primary and post primary education for children of protection applicants residing in State provided accommodation is mainstreamed. Therefore, these children have the same access to primary and post primary education as the wider community and parents apply for schools of their choice in the same manner as residents in the wider community. Transport to schools is arranged for school going residents via the school bus scheme provided by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills.
There is a rigorous inspection system in place in which each centre is inspected three times a year, twice by RIA staff and once by an independent inspection company, QTS Limited. In addition, to ensure transparency in relation to standards in centres, all completed inspection reports of centres undertaken since 1 October 2013 are published on the RIA website - www.ria.gov.ie. Centres are also subject to inspection by various other State agencies including, for example, Environmental Health Officers.
Extensive and detailed information on the amount paid by my Department to each company contracted to provide accommodation every year up to and including 2013 can be found on the RIA website under the 'Contract Values 2000 - 2013 inclusive (January 2016)' section of the website. The Deputy will appreciate that it is not appropriate to provide values for current contracts entered into by my Department. Negotiations take place with a number of commercial entities on an ongoing basis with a clear focus on achieving the best value for money in respect of each contract. It is not in the interests of yielding best value for the taxpayer that details of current individual contracts are made available to other commercial bodies that are, or may be in the future, engaged in these negotiations.
Procedures are in place in each centre, including the accommodation centre in Athlone, to facilitate the residents in receiving visitors. These procedures vary by centre to accommodate local arrangements including the protection and safety of all residents.
