A chara, – If ever we needed an example of the dangers of allowing private enterprise into what should be the purview of the State, one need only look at the headline in your newspaper yesterday regarding the level of profit made by private companies providing direct provision accommodation for asylum seekers ("Irish asylum firms made millions in profits", Front Page, December 9th). We have all heard the first-hand accounts of the dreadful conditions that families endure in some of these accommodation centres. We have seen the controversy regarding the President making a visit to one of these centres. We have seen the residents of these centres protest for the most basic of rights and amenities. Yet private companies are making millions of euro in profit from running these centres on behalf of the this State. The Government's primary responsibility is to the people of this country, both current and prospective, and not to the profit margins of business. – Is mise,
SIMON O’CONNOR,
Crumlin,
Dublin 12.