Rice cookers removed from Direct Provision Centre rooms

An official inspection of the Direct Provision centre in Salthill found cooking appliances in several bedrooms of the accommodation for asylum seekers.

The annual inspection of the Eglinton in Salthill, by the International Protection Procurement Services, on behalf of the State, highlighted some issues for Maplestar Ltd, the operator of the accommodation, to resolve.

The inspection took place in November 2020, and the report was released by the Department of Justice to Galway City Tribune last week.

The hotel can accommodate 210 at capacity; on the day of the inspection there were 143 people living there, including families and single women.

No visitors were allowed at the centre during Covid-19, according to the report.

Meals are provided at the centre, but the report highlighted that a number of residents used their own cooking facilities in their bedrooms, which was against house rules.

During the inspection rice cookers were found in five bedrooms. In a letter of response to the inspector, management at the Eglinton outlined that it had rectified a number of issues, including removing rice cookers from bedrooms.

One resident “was informed of the dangers of cooking in the room and cooker was removed by management”, according to the response.

The report notes that meals prepared by a chef employed by the centre are served three times a day. Lunches for schoolchildren are also provided and there is access to snacks outside of the centre’s breakfast, lunch and dinner hours.

Some other mostly cosmetic issues in relation to rooms were mentioned by the inspector, and were subsequently dealt with, according to management.

A previous annual inspection report in 2019 had also highlighted that cooking facilities were being used in some of the bedrooms in the hotel.

“I can understand that even if you did have communal cooking facilities why you would be tempted to use other things in your own space. It’s very sad. I actually get shivers even thinking about it because people can be in Direct Provision for long periods of time,” said Galway-based senator, Pauline O’Reilly.

“Particularly for families, but also for single people, you have to have some element of privacy. When you look at human rights, people do have an entitlement. So even in the best-case scenario in these communal settings with a communal kitchen that’s not what families should have to survive. It could be a case that you’re not getting on with other people, all kinds of social issues arise when you’re living with people for a long period of time.”

She said that abolishing Direct Provision was a top priority of the Green Party in Government, and had brought forward a white paper on it. She wants “own-door accommodation”

“The timeline to get this done over the lifetime of the Government will be a challenge. Obviously, that’s the commitment and that’s one of the key things for us,” said Senator O’Reilly.

“We have to be careful in any conversation around this not to be pitting people against each other. I don’t think that is the reality. Actually, the numbers in Direct Provision are relatively low in the overall population. And so, it should be achievable [to end DP] in terms of housing.

“The whole purpose of the plan is that people who can afford to pay, will pay for their housing. It’s not a case of everybody gets something for free. It’s a case-by-case basis just like it is with anyone else in the population.

“Whether you pay or not will depend on your means. You could be coming from areas of conflict where people have very high skill levels but they’re fleeing conflict or disaster zones,” she added.

The Department of Justice confirmed that phasing out of Direct Provision had commenced.

“Emergency accommodation is being phased out. This accommodation is not suitable for long-term use, and comes with a high degree of congregation. Single people who do not know each other can end up sharing rooms. Good progress has been made in terms of closing emergency accommodation this year and moving residents into accommodation with better standards,” it said.

The Department also pointed to a number of other short-term improvements.

Asylum seekers can now open Irish bank accounts, which was not the case up until this year.

A spokesperson said that secondary school students living in DP no longer have to pay international fees when applying for post-leaving cert and third level courses; they pay the same rates as Irish students.