Taking the ‘meanness’ out of Direct Provison

Gerry Callaghan 2020-07-17

Roderic O’Gorman, the Minister for Children, Disabilities, Equality and Integration, promises to sort out the State’s direct provision system.

The Green Party TD is not short of ambition: he wants to take the “meanness” out of the existing system and pledges to replace the accommodation system – currently housing 7,700 people – “within the lifespan of this government”. Read more in this newspaper report from July 2020. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/roderic-o-gorman-says-he-wants-to-take-the-meanness-out-of-direct-provision-1.4306324

Minister for Equality and Integration, Roderic O’Gorman

Categories: Direct Provision, Irish Government

Tagged: News

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FAQ’s

We are a front line refugee support group mainly working on the Lissywollen Direct Provision site in Athlone. Our focus is on providing information and help to the 300 (on average) residents living there.

We also work on the Temple Direct Provision site in Horseleap, Moate.

Everyone in the DP sites in Athlone and Temple is what is described as a ‘Convention’ refugee. People who have arrived in Ireland under a United Nations resettlement program are known as ‘Programme’ refugees.

Convention refugees are people who have made their own way to Ireland and have applied for recognition of refugee status when they arrive.

Various official and unofficial routes and methods are used to travel to Ireland. These change continually, depending on weather conditions and enforcement levels at crossings.

On arrival people are normally housed for a few weeks in Baleskin, near Dublin airport. They are then dispersed to various direct provision centres around the country.

People can get protection if they meet the conditions set out in The United Nations Convention on Protection of Refugees.

See Definition of a Refugee

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