Thomas Pringle TD

The Issue of Covid19 Testing In Congregated Settings Does Not Apply To Asylum Seekers But It Does To Residents Of Nursing Homes?

The Issue of Covid19 Testing In Congregated Settings Does Not Apply To Asylum Seekers But It Does To Residents Of Nursing Homes?

Yesterday I was given an opportunity to ask questions regarding Congregated Settings, Direct Provision Centres. I asked:

Have all healthcare workers been moved out of direct provision? If not, why not? They are vitally important.

Ms Buckley noted in her opening statement that the Jesuit Refugee Service, JRS, had launched a support service for residents of centres. How long has it been in place? How many calls has it received? How much feedback has the Department received on it? I know from experience that the Department will not accept complaints from anybody other than residents. In that light, why was that service introduced?

On testing and the HSE, the Department stated that there are approximately 8,700 residents in the asylum system. The HSE has tested 1,734 of them. Why have all residents not been tested? What is the difference between hostels for asylum seekers and nursing homes, where there has been blanket testing of all residents and staff? Why has that not been rolled out for asylum seekers?