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A “groundbreaking” shelter scheme and asylum process that is expected to cost millions less than the current direct provision system has been proposed to be replaced by a panel of government experts, The Irish Times has learned.
A detailed list of recommendations, including the introduction of state-owned temporary accommodation centers where applicants would spend their first three months in the country and a new housing model led by local authorities, will be released today following an investigation by a group of experts appointed last. year.
The group’s conclusions will inform the Government’s White Paper on the elimination of direct provision, which will be published in late 2020. The group of experts, led by the former Secretary-General of the European Commission, Dr. Catherine Day, has call for the new system to be fully implemented by mid-2023 and for the transition period to begin as soon as possible. It is understood that the proposed model will cost 35.9 million euros less than the direct supply cost in 2019.
Although the Government has committed to ending direct provision, the new recommendations are not legally binding and, therefore, the Department of Children, Disability, Equality and Integration, which now leads the direct provision portfolio, is not required to include all suggested measurements on your White Paper. However, it is understood that the report calls for the introduction of binding targets, including some legislative changes.
Six months
It proposes that first-instance decisions on asylum applications be taken within six months, as required by the recast Reception Conditions Directive of the European Communities, which Ireland adopted in July 2018.
Under the new system, asylum seekers will spend up to three months in a state-owned reception center where they undergo a vulnerability assessment, receive legal advice and begin their application for international protection.
Applicants will then be transferred to their own door accommodation which will be supervised by the local authorities through a separate housing budget. This rental scheme should be based on the Homeless Assistance (HAP) payment, the group has advised.
The report stipulates that people should not be housed in remote areas but in towns and cities where they have access to job and educational opportunities, confirmed a source, while the number of people housed in each area should be proportional to the size of the town or city. . .
Initial decision
Asylum seekers will spend six months waiting for an initial decision on their application and another half year if they need to appeal this decision. If residency is denied on appeal, the applicant must be able to stay in this home for another six months before leaving the state.
The source close to the report described its content as “groundbreaking” and underscored the group’s desire for the Housing Department to take over the housing portfolio for asylum seekers as soon as possible.
The report specifies that single men and women receive accommodation in a single room in shared houses and calls for specific accommodation for victims of trafficking.
The recommendations also state that asylum seekers should have the right to work within three months of entering the state. Those who cannot find work, or who cannot work, must undergo a means test to receive “welfare type” support, the source said.
An announcement about bank accounts and driver’s licenses will be made Wednesday along with the release of the report.
Unaccompanied minors must remain in Tusla’s care when they turn 18 and not be transferred to shared accommodation with adults and must also receive legal support to apply for refugee status as soon as possible so that they have the best chance of success, the group has said.
‘Discrimination’
A spokesperson for the Asylum Seekers Movement in Ireland, who engaged with the expert group during deliberations, welcomed the proposed changes, but cautioned that relying on a HAP rental model does not “provide a realistic alternative” as “It would allow discrimination against asylum seekers.” He cautioned against creating a separate housing model for asylum seekers and called for applicants to be integrated into the existing housing policy. MASI also criticized the government for not implementing any of the interim recommendations on vulnerability assessments, driver’s licenses, and bank accounts.
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