Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 April 2017
57. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons currently in direct provision in each direct provision centre for one year or less, one to two years, two to three years, three to four years, four to five years and more than five years, in tabular form; and the equivalent data for the same date in 2016. [19110/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhen a person makes an application for international protection, they are offered accommodation in State provided accommodation. Whilst there is no obligation on them to accept this offer, approximately 50% of applicants avail of the accommodation offered. They are not obliged to remain in this accommodation and can leave and indeed return as they so require. In addition, those who refuse the initial accommodation offer can choose to avail of it at a later date.
Below are two tables setting out the number of persons in State provided accommodation at the end of March 2016 and end of March 2017 respectively. The duration of stay based on the last entry into State provided accommodation is shown in the left hand column. This may not directly correspond to the date of their initial application for international protection. A breakdown of this duration of stay data is not available on a centre by centre basis.
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 67% of those persons residing in RIA accommodation at the end of March 2017 have been there for less than two years. In addition, the number of persons residing in State provided accommodation for more than 5 years has dropped from 22% at the end of March 2016 to just over 12% at the end of March 2017.
The total for 2017 includes just over 400 persons who have permission to remain in the State and are in transit to independent living.
|
Statistics as at the end of March 2016 |
|
|
Duration of Stay |
Number of persons |
|
0<12 months |
1,919 |
|
1 year < 2 years |
682 |
|
2 years < 3 years |
448 |
|
3 years < 4 years |
265 |
|
4 years < 5 years |
240 |
|
5 years + |
998 |
|
Total: |
4,552 |
|
Statistics as at the end of March 2017 |
|
|
Duration of Stay |
Number of Persons |
|
0<12 months |
1,708 |
|
1 year < 2 years |
1,292 |
|
2 years < 3 years |
603 |
|
3 years < 4 years |
319 |
|
4 years < 5 years |
177 |
|
5 years + |
564 |
|
Total: |
4,463 |
