Accommodation is so cramped, there is no room for babies to learn to crawl or toddlers to learn to walk’
THE STATE body which oversees accommodation for asylum seekers has strongly rejected a politician’s claim that living conditions are “appalling” at its centres.
In a statement last week, Fine Gael’s immigration spokesperson Denis Naughten TD said that reports of “desperate conditions” were emerging from some accommodation centres.
His said that in one unidentified facility, “the public health nurse reported that accommodation is so cramped, there is no room for babies to learn to crawl or toddlers to learn to walk. Clearly the Department of Justice’s own monitoring procedures are falling short.”
In response, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice’s Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) told Metro Éireann it “does not accept” Naughten’s remarks.
“Conditions in Irish accommodation centres are as good, and in many cases better, than other EU states,” commented the spokesperson. “The RIA takes its responsibilities in relation to accommodation very seriously and monitors all centres on an on-going basis.”
The spokesperson added: “The RIA is not aware of the public health nurse’s complaints referred to [by Naughten] but we would welcome the opportunity to deal with the specific concerns should the deputy be in a position to provide them to RIA.”
The body also responded to the Fine Gael TD’s references to the money spent on asylum seeker accommodation – over €83m in 2007 – which he said represented poor value as “the system for processing asylum applications is slowing down”.
An RIA spokesperson contended that processing times for asylum applications had been “considerably reduced” in recent years, with initial decision on individuals from “safe” countries (Nigeria, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and South Africa) usually finalised within 20 days. The timeframe for “non-prioritised cases” is within 23 weeks.
Meanwhile, the average length of time taken by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to process and complete substantive appeals is 21 weeks, and just nine weeks for prioritised cases.
The spokesperson indicated that Naughten’s reference to applicants having to wait eight years would generally only relate to “failed asylum seekers” who applied for leave to remain. Some 9,000 are currently in this category (including around 1,600 applicants for a lesser form of refugee status known as subsidiary protection).
The RIA spokesperson concluded: “As Deputy Naughten is aware, the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008, which is currently at committee stage in the Dáil, will comprehensively reform and simplify the current refugee status determination system. The proposed reforms it contains are intended to reduce the time taken to process each case to finality, which is in the interests of the genuine applicant and the protection of the integrity of the application process.”
The RIA is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers while their application for asylum in the State is being processed. It currently accommodates almost 7,000 people in 62 accommodation centres across 22 counties. Asylum seekers are given full board, and are not permitted to work. Adults are given an allowance of just over €19 per week.
The RIA operates a system whereby it contracts accommodation services to outside contractors, which has proved lucrative for a number of Irish businesspeople. Asylum seeker support groups have consistently raised concerns over some contractors allegedly cutting corners on services such as food, in order to make bigger profits.
