THE USE OF hotels and B&Bs to house people in Direct Provision and a lack of vulnerability assessments are putting the welfare of children at risk, according to a new report.
The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) will today publish a report on the safety and welfare of children in Direct Provision. This is the first time the OCO has presented a special report to the Oireachtas since it was established in 2004.
The OCO is publishing today’s report because it is not satisfied the Government has adequately responded to a previous investigation it carried out into how children are treated in Direct Provision. Two years on from that report, the OCO said progress on improving conditions has “stalled or regressed”.
Commenting on the publication of the new report, the Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon said: “How we treat children coming to this country will be a defining issue of our generation, and as things stand, history will not judge us well.”
The report, seen by The Journal, calls for an end to using commercial hotels for accommodation, the establishment of a robust quality assurance mechanism, and ensuring children receive vulnerability assessments.
The report, which will be launched in Dublin later today, states: “Hotels and B&Bs are not suitable places for children to grow up. This is what is happening and there are no immediate plans for this to change.
There is now an acceptance from Government that this is the way it has to be. This is affecting children in Direct Provision, as well as thousands who are arriving from Ukraine.
“Recent figures show that the State is spending more than €42.1 million each month on rental, management and the maintenance of accommodation for asylum seekers.”
Some 24,528 people live in Direct Provision centres around the country, including 5,276 children, as of 15 October. The majority of these people (15,890 adults and 2,973 children) are in emergency accommodation.
The Direct Provision system of housing asylum seekers was set up in 1999 as a temporary measure.
In 2021 the Government promised to phase out DP by 2024 and replace the current for-profit model of accommodation with State-owned, not-for-profit centres.
However, this date has been indefinitely pushed back as the Government struggles to house international protection applicants as well as the almost 100,000 Ukrainians who have sought refuge here since the war broke out in February 2022.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Muldoon said: “In 2021 I published an investigation into the safety and welfare of children in Direct Provision. We all know that the landscape has changed significantly since then with the outbreak of war in Ukraine. However, inadequate standards in 2021 are still inadequate standards in 2023.
“We cannot allow what everyone agreed was not good enough to become acceptable simply because it is better than tents, or better than nothing. We owe these children much more respect than that and as a nation we need to guard against lowering standards during this crisis.”
Emergency accommodation
The over-reliance on private accommodation such as hotels and B&Bs, as well as tents in some cases, is widely agreed to be unsustainable.
The OCO said it supports the call by the Government’s Advisory Group on Direct Provision for the use of exceptional measures to deliver State-owned centres.
The Advisory Group, led by Dr Catherine Day, submitted its own report to the Government in November 2022, but many of its recommendations have yet to be implemented.
The OCO said it is not satisfied that a robust quality assurance mechanism is in place, or will be put in place, for the majority of children seeking international protection.
The report notes that national standards for accommodation centres came into effect at the beginning of 2021 and the Government agreed that the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) should monitor the centres for adherence to the standards.
However, the OCO notes that Hiqa’s role applies to all ‘permanent’ centres contracted by the International Protection Accommodation Services (Ipas).
“As we know the majority of children are being accommodated in non-permanent centres such as hotels and B&Bs, meaning that there is inadequate monitoring of complaints, child protection and welfare concerns, and any other adverse incidents,” the report states.
The OCO said it is also not satisfied that Ipas has “sufficient regard to the vulnerability of children within the international protection process in the planning and provision of their accommodation needs”.
The report notes that when the OCO published its investigation into how children are treated in Direct Provision in 2021, the Department of Children made a commitment that a vulnerability assessment would be carried out within 30 days of a child applying for international protection.
However, to date, only 10% of children seeking international protections have received a statutory vulnerability assessment.
Muldoon said the purpose of the OCO’s report is “not to shame the Government, but rather it is to spur them on to not lose sight of the commitments they themselves agreed in 2021″.
He said he hopes the report will support the work of the Department of Children and urge “the whole of Government to step up, and commit to working together, to improve this situation”.
“I hope that this report, alongside strong advice from the Advisory Committee on the White Paper and others, will encourage the Government to take action and to consider a medium and long-term plan that will work.”
‘Committed to providing appropriate accommodation’
The Journal asked the Department of Children for comment on the OCO’s report.
In response, a spokesperson said the department “remains committed to providing appropriate accommodation to all International Protection Applicants in Ireland in this unprecedented and emergency situation”.
A statement noted: “There are currently over 24,500 persons in Ipas accommodation. Since the beginning of 2023 to date, over 8,029 people have arrived seeking International Protection, many of which have been accommodated by Ipas.
“Due to the significant increase in International Protection Applicants, there is a requirement for a blended approach of accommodation options, including commercial and private providers.
“The Government is aware of the need to reduce the number of International Protection Applicants resident in Emergency Accommodation Centres, and is working to both procure new accommodation sources and ensure the smooth transition of current residents from EACs to more permanent accommodation.
“The Department is fully cognisant that the best interests of the child are paramount. Child protection is a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary activity and agencies and professionals must work together in the interests of children.”
The spokesperson noted that, since the publication of the OCO’s investigation in 2021, the Government has “put in place a number measures to address concerns” which include the monitoring of centres for adherence to national standards, the Vulnerability Assessment Pilot Programme, and determining vulnerability in over 3,300 people.
The statement added that Ipas “will continue to prioritise children and address their vulnerabilities in accordance with the requirements of the EU Reception Conditions Directive”.
“Ipas will continue to engage with all staff in centres that accommodate children in the International Protection system to ensure they complete Children First Training, have a Designated Liaison Person assigned, and adhere to the Children First Legislation and Guidance.”
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