Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 March 2017
22. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the latest data and the date it was recorded, on the number of persons currently in direct provision for one year or less, one year to two years, two years to three years, three years to four years, four years to five years and more than five years in tabular form; and if she will provide the equivalent data for the same date in 2015. [10789/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAccording to the Reception and Integration Agency database, there were 4,644 persons residing in State provided accommodation at the end of February 2017. At the same date in 2015, there were 4,460 persons availing of State provided accommodation. This increase in the overall number of persons in accommodation masks the fact that there has been a significant decrease in the length of time protection applicants are spending in the system and the natural churn in the system. For example in 2016 alone, 1,960 persons left State provided accommodation and 1,685 persons took up the offer of State provided accommodation.
The following table sets out the duration of stay of those in State provided accommodation (based on their last entry into State provided accommodation) at end of February 2017 and the corresponding statistics for the same date in 2015.
|
Duration |
End February 2015 |
End February 2017 |
|
0 > 1 Year |
1,172 |
1,754 |
|
1 > 2 Years |
531 |
1,229 |
|
2 > 3 Years |
408 |
603 |
|
3 > 4 Years |
366 |
303 |
|
4 > 5 Years |
352 |
181 |
|
5 years + |
1,631 |
574 |
|
Total: |
4,460 |
4,644 |
As can be seen from the table, significant progress has been made in resolving the long stay cases and this is evidenced by the fact that just over 64% of those persons residing in RIA accommodation at the end of February 2017 have been there for less than two years.
