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MORE THAN 32,000 people have signed a petition calling for the government to end the system of Direct Provision in Ireland.
The petition, which has been set up by the group Abolish Direct Provision Ireland, is demanding the government changes the system for housing asylum seekers.
The system was set up as a temporary measure in 1999 in response to an increase in the number of people seeking asylum in Ireland.
It has been criticised by migrant rights groups over conditions in the accommodation centres, the length of time people wait for their asylum applications or appeals to be processed and the impact this has on children.
Many people in Direct Provision centres share bedrooms with multiple people, particularly among the increasing numbers in emergency accommodation.
Yesterday Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was criticised after defending Direct Provision, saying that although the system needs to change, it does not fuel racism and is a service provided by the State.
It followed calls from TDs in the Dáil to end Direct Provision, with some making comparisons between it and the killing of George Floyd in the US last week.
Varakdar said successive governments have tried and will continue to reform it but that it is an optional system.
“Direct Provision ultimately is a service offered by the State, it is not compulsory and it is not a form of detention, it is a service provided for by the state and they are provided with free accommodation, food, heat, light, healthcare and education and also some spending money,” he said.
“It is not the same thing as a man being killed by the police. Does it add to racism or not? I hope it doesn’t.”
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Also commenting today, Rape Crisis Network Ireland asked Minister of Justice Charlie Flanagan to allow survivors of sexual violence living in Direct Provision to access support from their local Rape Crisis Centre.
All access to rape crisis support is currently done remotely, which makes problems for survivors in Direct Provision more acute, the network says.
“These vulnerable survivors often do not have their own phone but need to borrow one for phone calls,” Clíona Saidléar of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland said.
“They may only have access to phones that work on public WiFi, so struggle to make private calls. Our clients’ privacy is at risk every time we make a call.”
Earlier this year, Ombudsman Peter Tyndall raised concerns over accommodation in the Direct Provision system in his annual report.
He said the McMahon report – the recognised benchmark for Direct Provision services – had criticised the Department of Justice and Equality’s use of a definition from the 1966 Housing Act as the minimum space required for a bedroom.
Ombudsman’s office staff visited 26 accommodation centres last year including some unannounced visits.
The Ombudsman saw a 10.5% increase in complaints, from 152 in 2018 to 168 in 2019.
Complaints concerned the length of time in emergency accommodation, transfers to other accommodation, access to schools for children, food facilities, and access to GP services and medical cards.
The Ombudsman said the most significant change in 2019 was the increase in the number of applicants for international protection temporarily living in emergency accommodation in hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.
A Black Lives Matter protest in Dublin on Monday in response to Floyd’s death also saw calls for an end to the system, while one organiser of protests across the country this weekend told TheJournal.ie this week that they would continue their demand tomorrow.
With reporting by Press Association.
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My refusal to buy even the cheapest Saorview box to receive RTE means I haven’t seen it since the changeover,do programmes still resemble 80′s American community t.v.?.If there’s a Rugby game I can’t see anywhere else I stick the player on the laptop,otherwise no thanks.
They don’t scrimp on snacks because we the public pay for them.
Same tired auld presenters sure if the show is not working on Saturday we’ll just move to one of the other days sure go wan pick one there’s 6 more.
Tubs = messi shows how delusional RTE are he has about as much talent for interviewing people as me and I can barely talk at the best of times
Turgidy is too bland for words, no idea how he came to be the highest-paid ‘artist’ on taxpayer TV – as for the rest of it…..ugh. Just ugh! Actually it’s all ugh, just Turgidy is ughier, if that is possible.
I’ll give you this, even though I don’t know you, and, generally, handstands are not that important, your achievement is much more important than what we’ve learned from RTE.
Just the same old sh*te churned out in another crap version of the same format fronted by the same talentless gimps. Only there because of nepotism and despite no talent have a job for life. Meanwhile to see anything worth watching we all subscribe to sky yet are force to pay the rte tax that is the tv licence. Just scrap the institution altogether and let the publuc vote with their feet.
Ah now I see the urgency in sending people to prison over not paying their TV licence – the RTE branded Cookies!!! This bunch of saps can’t be left without their RTE treats!
If you seen any of the 50 reruns of every program ever shown by RTE…fear not!…..you can now be bored out of your tree on the internet too with RTE Player….again and again!
Who (I’ll use the word wrote) wrote this article, are we to believe that it is just drivel about more drivel? There are people who could have written this properly for ye, pointed out the pros and cons, oh I know they are not really pros but they are extremely well overpaid, the cons have also been spotted by previous contributors
I hearby refuse to pay my T.V licence renewal and henceforth accept 10 years hard labour at Spike Island prison, but please do not make me pay for the likes of this shower of talentless wasters!
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