Minister ‘taking seriously’ concerns about child safety in Citywest refugee hub

Minister for Children and Integration Roderic O’Gorman has said he is taking seriously concerns raised by the Irish Refugee Council about child safety in the Citywest processing facility for refugees.

The chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council Nick Henderson has called for the immediate transfer of 68 children from the Citywest refugee processing centre.

Mr Henderson said on Monday that the Council has “very serious concerns” about the children who are in a “shared environment” with 700 adults, with very limited play facilities, washing and toilet access. The Council wrote to the Government on December 1st recommending that children and families be moved immediately from Citywest.

In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr O’Gorman said that if a change in policy is needed, then that is what the Government will do.

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“We are examining carefully the issues that the IRC have raised in its communication and I will be meeting officials further in terms of going through them in detail. It is important to say that we have a principal social worker present in Citywest.

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“We have a wide range of child protection policies that apply in Citywest and certainly we would have strict security in shared spaces like showers and the like, and clear guidance on the use of those facilities. We will respond to the IRC in terms of the issues that it has raised,” he said.

Mr O’Gorman said that child protection and child welfare are “absolutely essential in what this department does in our everyday work.”

“That is the case in terms of the work we undertake in Citywest as well. We recognise the importance of NGOs that we work with. We take these concerns seriously and where policies or practices need to change, we will always do this in order to protect child welfare.”

The Refugee Council also called for the closure of the centre in the long term, but Mr Henderson acknowledged on RTÉ this would have to be done in a phased manner.

Mr Henderson said he believed it was possible to find alternative accommodation for the children and families as had been done recently for refugees staying in tents. “A huge amount of work” was being done by the Department of Children and staff at Citywest, he said, describing them as “vital cogs in the refugee response mechanism” but pointing out that no follow-up had been carried out to proposals for an inspectorate for facilities. There should not be any moves to exclude emergency accommodation from the scrutiny of a future inspectorate, he urged, as that was where children were most at risk.

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Meanwhile the Government is expected to consider in the coming days how to distribute a new €50m fund for communities dealing with large influxes of refugees. Mr O’Gorman said proposals around the fund will be brought to Government as early as this week.

“It is looking to reward those communities that have taken on both Ukrainian displaced persons and international protection applicants. The €50m will be distributed across counties and it is there to deliver community gains and it will be worked on by local authorities.

“The type of project could vary depending on the local authority area. It might be upgrading a playground, work on developing a community centre in another area, but it will be very much focused on community, recognising the support given across the country and looking to ensure that those communities can see a tangible result from those efforts.”