Direct Provision

At the Irish Refugee Council, we advocate for improved conditions that recognise and safeguard the dignity of those seeking international protection in Ireland. Through our advocacy and policy work, we call for improvements, and ultimately, and an end to the Direct Provision system in Ireland while presenting constructive solutions, based on sound research, that would positively impact the lives of those awaiting international protection applications.

Direct Provision is Ireland’s system of accommodating those seeking international protection while in the asylum process, managed by the the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) an administrative division of the Department of Justice. Direct Provision was initially conceived as a short-term solution to accommodate people seeking asylum providing them with food, board and basic necessities for no longer than six months. However, due to significant delays in the asylum process, most people spend an average of three years in Direct Provision and in some cases more than seven years.

As of April 2020 there are around 7,400 people in Direct Provision and emergency accommodation.

Challenges

The problems with Direct Provision are well-documented;

long processing times leading to lengthy and indefinite delays
inappropriate and substandard accommodation
lack of sufficient care services and supports

We work every day with people living in the system who experience significant challenges. The time spent waiting, the indefinite nature of that wait, the overcrowding, the lack of privacy, the inability to cook or live a normal family life, the idleness, the isolation, the difficulty accessing services – all combine to make Direct Provision a very difficult, and in many cases, very painful experience.

Those in the Direct Provision system also have limited access to higher education and employment. The system has a particularly negative impact on vulnerable people with special needs as well as children, young people and LGBT people.

We analysed the experience of children in Direct Provision in our report ‘State Sanctioned Child Poverty and Exclusion, The case of children in state accommodation for asylum seeker’.

Push for change

The system has raised major human rights concerns and the toll that it takes on its residents has been well documented by NGOs, legal practitioners, experts and international bodies with the Ombudsman and the special rapporteur on child protection both calling on Ireland to abolish Direct Provision.

While some improvements have been made to improve the Direction Provision system since the publication of the McMahon Report in 2015 such as the increase in Direct Provision allowance, the introduction of the limited right to work and modest expansion of self-catering facilities, in our view changes to the system be more radical and look toward an alternative way to accommodation people who seek protection in Ireland.