4,500 people in direct provision - Stanton
AS of the middle of March, some 4,500 people were living in State-provided direct provision accommodation, 77% of whom have been in such accommodation for three years or less, Minister of State David Stanton told the Dáil.
In the case of the Department of Justice and Equality, full-board accommodation is offered to residents while their applications for protection are being processed, he said. Not every person who seeks international protection in Ireland chooses to accept the offer of full-board accommodation. Many applicants choose to live with colleagues, family members or friends in communities across the country, as they are entitled to do.
“Direct provision is not about detention, disregarding human rights or treating people in the protection process differently from people in the wider community,” he said.
“Since this system was established in 2000, some 60,000 people have been provided with full-board accommodation and full access to the State’s medical and education services. If the State was not providing this service, where would these people have stayed? How would they have been provided with medical and health care? How would children have been linked in with preschool, primary and post-primary education?”
Minister Stanton said that during previous debates on direct provision in these Houses and in the media, there has often been a focus on calls to end the system.
“I have yet to hear anyone say what they would replace it with. Would they replace it with a system based on cash or vouchers? If colleagues have suggestions for what we might replace the current system with, I ask them to give me the details of what they would like to see happening.
“I assume that we do not want the vulnerable people for whom we are responsible protecting to join the lengthy social housing waiting lists or to enter the private rental market with little hope of finding affordable and secure accommodation.”
The offer of State-provided accommodation is a guarantee that everyone who walks into the international protection office today will have a bed, food, a shower and medical care tonight, he added