Minister Roderic O’Gorman has said that planning is well advanced on developing a new system of income and housing supports for asylum applicants.
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth also said that a €5 million Integration Fund is to be launched
The Minister confirmed the information in a statement he issued to mark the “one-year anniversary of White Paper on ending Direct Provision.”
According to the statement issued by Minister O’Gorman, the new model is centred on the idea of integration supports being offered to people arriving in this country “from day one.”
O’Gorman has previously made it clear that he is seeking to have the State Housing Agency provide own-door accommodation to asylum seekers after only 4 months of being in the country. Critics have noted that one analysis found that 90% of asylum claims in Ireland were rejected due to insufficient evidence that the claim was legitimate.
Ireland refuses asylum to 90pc of applicants https://t.co/5D2yXauJzy pic.twitter.com/NPJQmBB8wT
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) November 20, 2016
The Minister also confirmed that since the publication of the White Paper in February 2021, extensive work has been delivered to enable the transition to the new model of accommodation for International Protection applicants and it is anticipated that the full transition to the new accommodation model can be achieved by the end of 2024.
Minister O’Gorman highlighted what he termed the “key milestones achieved in the implementation of the White Paper” to date. These include:
Commenting on the new information, Minister O’Gorman said, “We look forward to continuing our work and engaging with NGOs, implementation partners and communities around Ireland as we end Direct Provision and complete the transition to the new model of International Protection Support Services.”