SEVERAL HUNDRED asylum seekers will be moved to new accommodation centres over the next 18 months following a Government decision to implement the key recommendations of a value for money and policy review.
The review found the Government pays too much to house and feed asylum seekers because it does not run fully open tender competitions and maintains too much “excess capacity” at accommodation centres nationwide.
It recommends terminating several contracts with existing asylum accommodation centres to reduce the number of unused beds and introducing a more open tendering process to encourage new operators to enter the market.
Last month’s controversial decision to move 109 asylum seekers from Mosney to Dublin was the first public implementation of the policy. However in recent days, two self-catering centres in Cork and Roscommon have also been closed by the Reception and Integration Agency, forcing 90 residents to move.
The review, which was conducted by officials at the Departments of Justice, Finance and the Reception and Integration Agency, focused on cutting the cost of caring for asylum seekers and examining alternatives to the Government’s direct provision system.
Direct provision does not allow asylum seekers to work while waiting for their claims to be determined. Instead it accommodates people in direct provision hostels where they get a bed, meals and €19.10 a week to live on. The report found this system cost €581 million between 2002 and 2008.
At the end of 2008, the agency contracted 60 accommodation centres for asylum seekers dispersed across 22 counties – 45 privately owned centres, seven State-owned centres, two reception centres and six self-catering centres. It currently contracts about 50 centres, housing more than 6,000 people.
The review, which was published on the agency website at the weekend, concludes the accommodation programme remains relevant and continues to warrant the allocation of public funds. It recommends closer monitoring of the contracts agreed by agency with private accommodation providers.
The review rejects three alternative care models: allowing asylum seekers to claim social welfare and rent supplement, providing self-catering accommodation or providing local-authority housing. It did not consider giving asylum seekers the right to employment – a policy advocated by many NGOs.
The review found the agency contracted an average of 15 per cent excess capacity, although this peaked at 40 per cent in 2006. A 5 per cent cut in capacity would save some €3.9 million, it said.
It found “restricted competition” among commercial operators meant rates are not “robustly tested” and the seven State-owned accommodation centres were €6 a person a day cheaper than those owned by private operators. The review expressed concern about contract renewals agreed by the Reception and Integration Agency, with 16 private operators in 2008 and 2009 that led to price increases of more than 5 per cent at a time of deflation.
The agency uses full open EU- wide tendering of the operation of its seven State-owned centres. For other accommodation, it negotiates with existing contractors.
The average length of a contract is 2½ years. Many of the contracts are on their fourth or fifth renewal, says the report, which concludes the system is currently “restricting competition”.
This has resulted in variations of €8.50 in the daily rates paid by the State to accommodate asylum seekers at commercial centres. A difference of a euro a day on the daily rate for all contracted capacity adds about €3 million to costs, said the report.
The review proposes 3,600 bed spaces at 24 accommodation centres should be put out to tender over an 18-month period beginning in May 2010 as contracts expire.