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ASYLUM SEEKERS LIVING at a hotel in Dublin have been told not to bring food to their rooms amid ongoing issues for people living in emergency accommodation across Ireland.
Since September, the Department of Justice & Equality has accommodated those seeking international protection in Ireland in hotels and B&Bs due to pressures on the Direct Provision system.
Ireland’s 39 Direct Provision centres are currently at capacity. Until new centres come on-stream the Department’s Reception & Integration Agency (RIA) will continue to contract hotels and B&Bs, it has said.
There are currently 1,068 international protection applicants – including 177 children – living in emergency accommodation.
People living in these hotels and B&Bs have experienced a lack of service provision and have raised these issues with RIA.
On Tuesday, the Clayton Hotel wrote to people living in the hotel saying that “under no circumstances should there be any food taken away in containers or bottles from breakfast, lunch or dinner time”.
“All food must be consumed within our dining areas,” the hotel wrote, despite regular guests at the hotel being allowed bring food to their rooms.
“No food is allowed to be brought back to the hotel bedrooms,” the hotel wrote.
The Movement for Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) has crticised the hotel’s policy, saying that regular guests are allowed bring food to their rooms and called the practice discriminatory.
Meals for asylum seekers at the hotel are served between 9am and 5pm, according to one resident. Rooms are cleaned each day by hotel staff.
Clayton Hotels did not respond to request for comment and queries asking if the same hotel rules apply to every guest staying at the hotel by time of publishing this article.
According to a spokesperson for RIA, “any existing hotel policies are in place for all residents” of the hotel.
A spokesperson for MASI told TheJournal.ie that the letter issued ”shows the inappropriate nature of housing vulnerable people such as asylum seekers and people affected by homelessness in hotels and B&Bs for a prolonged period of time.”
The letter comes following criticism levelled at private hotel operators after MASI uncovered cramped conditions at a hotel in Portarlington, Co Laois.
‘Totally Against’
Since September, the Department has paid almost €9 million to private businesses to accommodate international protection applicants.
There are currently 29 hotels and B&Bs in 12 counties contracted by RIA to provide bed and board to asylum seekers.
Various groups – including MASI, Irish Refugee Council, Nasc, Immigrant Council of Ireland – have hit out at the policy.
Crticism has been levelled at a lack of vulnerability assessments for people entering the country before being moved directly to emergency accommodation.
A number of issues highlighted by residents so far include difficulties accessing GP services, delays in PPS numbers being allocated in order to receive weekly payment, lack of educational access for children and unsuitable accommodation.
According to a spokesperson for the Ombudsman’s Office – which is charged with examining complaints from people about public bodies and has visited Direct Provision centres since 2017 – “people in emergency accommodation tell us that they are experiencing difficulty accessing public services.”
In June, retired High Court Judge Dr Bryan McMahon, who chaired 2015’s working group report into the Direct Provision system, said he was “totally against” the use of emergency accommodation for asylum seekers and called on RIA to expand its stock by building on State-owned sites.
Deputy Secretary General Oonagh Buckley of the Justice Department told an Oireachtas Committee in June that the same standard of services in Direct Provision centres could not be provided in emergency set-ups.
Since hotels and B&Bs first came into use, only 285 people have been transferred to Direct Provision centres.
‘Short-term Solution’
The EU Reception Conditions directive, which Ireland signed up to last year, states that the Minister for Justice may provide emergency accommodation. But it must be for “as short a time as possible”.
Ireland is also legally required to conduct vulnerability assessments, which aim to identify special reception needs for asylum seekers and refugees.
Hotels and B&Bs will be in use “on a short-term basis”, a department spokesperson said, despite a number of applicants living in emergency accommodation since last November.
The Department has confirmed to TheJournal.ie that it also has no role in carrying out inspections of emergency accommodation set-ups nor can it permit visits but said that RIA staff hold clinics where they meet with residents in emergency accommodation to address concerns.
“The Department does not control access to private premises and for that reason, we are not in a position to allow a visit in the same way that is possible at RIA [Direct Provision] centres,” the spokesperson said.
“RIA typically contracts a defined number of rooms within existing commercial hotels and guest houses and therefore does not have exclusive use of the premises,” they added.
“During the past twelve months, there has been a rise in the number of applications and this, combined with well-documented difficulties experienced by the RIA in opening new [Direct Provision] centres, has stretched the system to its full capacity.”
In June 2018, 234 people applied for international protections here compared with 383 people this year.
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There is a difference between not being allowed food in the rooms and not being allowed bring food from the dining room back to the room.
I’m not defending the conditions asylum seekers are forced to live in and I realise direct provision is horrible and needs to change.
However, the hotel are obviously paid a certain amount by the state to provide breakfast lunch and dinner per person. If each person has 3 meals and removes additional food from the dining room for snacks the hotel are obviously not being paid for these snacks.
This isn’t the hotels fault. They are running a business and need to make a profit.
This is the governments fault for having people in accommodation that is not fit for purpose.
@Emma Dobbyn: what do you mean the conditions they have to live in they have a roof and a bed take a walk around O’Connell Street and you will see plenty of lol the will would be glad to have it
@John Murt: I mean exactly what I said. Direct provision is horrible and hotels are not suitable for long term stay.
This article isn’t about homelessness. It’s about how unsuitable hotels are for extended stay.
@Tricia Lowry: so they didnt choose its because of illness?
@John Murt: Who are ‘they’ exactly?
@Annie Citric: junkies
@Annie Citric: asylum seekers!! The people staying in hotel. Dont think its that complicated.
@Emma Dobbyn: the conditions in hotels are better than a lot of the council houses irish families are made live in, we shouldnt be allowing asylum seekers into the country if they can only be put into a hotel
@Doire: less than 6 percent coming in are refugees. Time to close the gates. Help the actual refugees. The economic migrant crisis is a complete shambles…
I’m all for helping people, but using tax money to put them in hotels instead of paying off debt Or other things is frustrating to think about .. probably costs nearly 1 mil a week to accommodate them
@bill2345: Maybe ready the article, it tells you how much has been spent since last September… It’s not 1 million a week.
This is the problem with Fine Gael, their only answer to everything is to pay the private sector to deal with it.
@ObsidianShine: hahaha only 9 million in 11 months .. do you actually believe that figure .. if you do the maths and break it down that’s less than €30 per day to accommodate and feed them .. that’s not viable for any hotel.. don’t believe everything you read you dope
@bill2345: if you’re all for helping people how else would you suggest we do it?
@ObsidianShine: close to a million a week.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/ireland-s-asylum-hotel-monthly-bill-tops-3-54m-wb8r9f8bj
@GrahamMManning: may he is suggest to host some of them ?
@Dominic Leleu: great idea
Is this not standard practice in most hotels? Food served by the hotel is eaten in the restaurant. There is no taking of food back to the room from the restaurant. That is what the letter specified, possibly in response to some infractions.
@lambda sensor: It does need clarification.
@ObsidianShine: I would like to know if the letter was given to all guests of the hotel or just those in D. P..
@lambda sensor: it specifically says other guests are allowed food in the room
@GrahamMManning: There is a difference between being allowed to bring food back to the room and being allowed to bring food from the restaurant back to the room.
@CrabaRev: there is but not a huge one
@GrahamMManning: that’s implied by the author, not confirmed by the hotel. In fact the hotel confirms that all policies are applied equally. That being said, the implementation of the policy MAY be done differently. Hotels may turn a blind eye to a guest paying full rates bringing an apple back after breakfast. They may take a more hardline view of a longterm residents taking extra food at each meal. So there is a context missing in the article.
@lambda sensor: You are correct. But the current narrative is if you don’t let these people do whatever they want you are a nazi and a racist. Last week an envelope was torn and again straight to the press declaring a human rights violation. Anyone with half a brain is getting wise to these stories now.
@Liam McLiam: people in DP can do whatever they like??? Jebus mite have a go meself so.
What is the real number of asylum seekers and immigrants in this country with a housing crisis, overcrowded hospitals and schools.
Thousands or millions.
@Michael Maher: thousands.
@Michael Maher: Millions? Are you well? It’s a few thousand.
@Michael Maher:
Millions?
@ObsidianShine: A few hundred thousand
@Michael Maher: over a period of yrs? Not active hundreds of thousands of cases don’t even have that may active cases in Canada where we take in a lot more than most
@Michael Maher: even if you take your hundreds of thousands (which would include Europeans) the vast majority are net contributors to the economy.
@Michael Maher: millions? What scary brown people fairytale world do you live in? Numpty.
@Michael Maher: how many of them are bogus or financial cases? We are seen as a soft touch, we can’t even look after our own
@Gus Sheridan: no idea. Why don’t you tell us?
@GrahamMManning: Its a hidden truth fairytale man which your government is good at.
@Michael Maher: Well at a recent Garda road operation , ONE DAY 180 People were discovered driving Taxi in DUBLIN .
Who shoukd have not been in the country . Of which 25 were deported.
@Michael Maher: twelvty million
@Paul Whelan: well if they were in direct provision they were obviously ‘entitled’ to be here until a decision was made on their status; if they were here illegally then obviously they weren’t receiving government assistance.
@Michael Maher: it’s the hidden truth that’s there’s millions of asylum seekers and immigrants in Ireland? Tis pretty well hidden so. Where have they got em? Is it Leitrim? Always thought there was something fishy bout that gaff. And tis our government darling no matter what we may think of em.
@GrahamMManning: Leitrim doesn’t actually exist. It’s a myth created by the Soros supporting government. They’re hiding millions of immigrants there and slowly replacing us regal, noble, faultless native Irish with them
@Kian David Griffin: Leitrims essentially Ireland’s Area 51 but the sheeple are blind to the truth. Aliens and all wandering round there
The minute anyone from another country breaks the law they should be deported whatever about putting a roof over there head when we can’t but a roof over our own I understand they are fleeing worn torn countries but then paying legal aid and tax payers money on prisons like come on a bit of common sense and rules of stay would benefit everyone !!!!
@Treasa: I find it offensive that people would take advantage of our open arm approach to giving them a better life train work contribute or go home
@Treasa: where in the article does it say anything about anyone breaking the law?
@Treasa: “fleeing worn torn countries…” No, they’re not!
@Bill ORourke: really? None of them? I know some Syrians who might disagree but shur what would they know?
@Bill ORourke: Some are, but there are other reasons for seeking asylum.
@Bill ORourke: “War torn”
@GrahamMManning: no war in Albania or Georgia,why are we taking hundreds from these countries?
@Ananya Sharma: no idea. Was responding to post saying none we from war torn countries which isn’t true
@GrahamMManning: so you were being a pompous twát as usual basically.
@Treasa: Bringing food to your room is not breaking the law. Fleeing war torn countries is only one reason to seek asylum , fgm and fear of persecution are two more but there are many more. To make it clear there does not have to be a war you are running from , you too can claim asylum if you need it. Being hungry past 5pm in the evening and stashing a bit of food from your lunch to eat later is not taking advantage it’s called saving and surviving. Finally asylum seekers spend years in dp and can’t work. Only recently they have been allowed but only for 6 months this makes them practically unemployable . Furthermore even when they have asylum granted and can work and move out of dp it is hard to find work and a house or room to rent due to predudice. Do you “understand” better now?
@Graham Wilson Wannabe: and as usual your understanding of words is lacking. Seem a bit frustrated this morning stalker? Did fantasy me not put out in your dreams again last nite? Sorry diddums.
It’s gas though that all these groups are up in arms about the gov doing all they can. Build a new centre I hear them say? So who’s willing to have that in their back garden? Planning would never get approval anywhere other than the middle of nowhere. We are a tiny island and this is currently the best we can do. 10,000+ currently homeless let’s not forget. If its not good enough then with all due respect go to another country and see if its any better. Ireland is broken right now, even if these folks could work and pay their way they would be on the homeless list because rents are so high and places so scarce.
@Pip: years in direct provision? This is not the best we can do.
@GrahamMManning: with the resources we currently have it is the best we can do. What sense does it make to have all asylum seekers in houses with jobs if schools, hospitals and most other public services are in a shambles? It’s hard to say but they are last on a long list.
@GrahamMManning: how many of them have already had their applications refused and are currently appealing the decision for the umteeth time ? if d.p is ‘so bad’ then why do they stay when their application has been turned down ? or is it just another money making racket for the legal profession ?
@Pip: no it’s not. Speed up the appeals process so no ones in DP limbo for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ++ years. Either they’re allowed stay, work and contribute or they’re deported. They money saved in no longer caring for people indefinitely should more than cover the expense involved.
@Eric Davies: see above.
@Eric Davies: It took my friend from Malawi 5 years to get his asylum. His was a clean cut case with no appeals and he had all the medical and police records and scars to prove what happened to him and why It was not safe to return. 5 years in direct provision with his confidence and identity being chipped away. He wants to work and is a skilled computer technician with 20 years in the trade he has done numerous courses to try and keep his skills up and stay active. He has his asylum but is still stuck in the hostel and still struggling to find work. There are hundreds like him that could be an asset to our country but we are failing them by how we process them in dp and after. They stay because as awful as it is its still better then the alternative .
I’ve stayed in a few hotels here and in Europe where at breakfast it requests you do not take food from the restaurant. I think people are stocking up from the breakfast buffet! That’s what it’s about and that’s fair enough. I think the headline is clickbait. Of course they can bring food into their rooms just not extra food from the restaurant
@clairebear: I think you are right. Particularly when it went as far as specifying bottles…. If making up a random letter to send out I don’t think I would think to specify you can’t take something in a bottle. Clearly there was a specific issue here. Recently stayed in that very hotel and noticed at the playground area there are several families living there. Also am fairly certain we were not allowed take food from the buffet for later either but could get room service.
Why fall over ourselves to look good in Europe by agreeing to take them, when we cant even house them properly
@Alan: so we shouldn’t take any?
Sensationalist much? Next thing they’ll be expected to poo in toilets instead of the lift.
Or maybe people were buying food, putting it into wardrobes, not eating it and then it rots and stinks?
@Madra: : ‘under no circumstances should food be taken away in containers or bottles from breakfast, lunch or dinners’. I think that is self explanatory as to what they were up to!
@Madra: This issue is also a routine problem in direct provision. Food being kept in unsanitary conditions in bedrooms and giving rise to rodent and insect infestation and illness. Bedrooms are not meant to be eating areas. A paying hotel guest may have a meal delivered to their room but the meal is then taken away when the room is cleaned every day. Moreover paying guests are rarely long term stays.
This group are travelling the country looking for problems which don’t exist. One of the main reasons we don’t have enough DP places for asylum seekers is that groups like this have campaigned vigorously against DP and business doesn’t want to be involved. Now they are campaigning against placing people in hotels, who would otherwise be homeless. What exactly do they want?
@John R: maybe if the government scrapped all these groups and just formed ONE organisation to do the job – the money saved on paying these blotted organisations could then be used towards building new centres or better still speeding up the asylum process and giving quicker decisions … its like a monty python sketch here – 4 or more groups (m.a.si. i.r.c .n.a.s.e. ,i.c.o i ) all supposedly doing the same job – !!!
Direct provision and mass immigration are rackets foisted on the Irish people.Between the groups that run the direct provision centres and the ongoing legal appeals in the courts there is lots of money being made off the backs of the cash-strapped Irish.99% of so-called asylum seekers are bogus.They are not running from persecution, war or starvation.This story points to people who are far from desperate or grateful for that matter..Last week they were complaining about a box of cereal being out of date.The Irish people are being conned and need to wake up to whats going on.This is the tip of the iceberg and a warning of whats coming if mass immigration is not halted now.
@Stephen O’Sullivan: You wouldn’t last 24 hours in dp or in any of the atrocities these people have had to endure.
How are the hote cleaner to keep the hotel rat free, if it gets infested with rats the hotel wil close. I am sick of thees Asylum hard luck stories. We can’t even look after our own.
@Paul Whelan: They’re already infested
I know taking food to there room is not breaking the law but I’m just frustrated and the way out country deals with everything at the min to be honest
I came here for the ignorant and xenophobic comments and I was not disappointed.
@SJF: I came here for tired old clichéd posts and you didn’t disappoint.
Considering the warm damp weather we are having it’s a very prudent rule. No hotel wants an infestation of rats or insects. Then they will drain our public health system being treated and finally sue the hotel for insanitary conditions
How are the ckeabers to ckeab rooms if families are taking back foid from designated Dining areas. Woukd yiu rather have a rat problem , or fky infestation. The the Hotel closed. I fed up of this poor asylum stories.
@Paul Whelan: Fat thumb syndrome is nothing to be ashamed of,keep posting my brother.
They aren’t allowed to bring food from the CANTEEN to the rooms! This article is obviously very biased and looking to make out these help seekers are being discriminated against. Don’t fan that flame, journos. Chase the authorities instead, to make them process the applications quicker and get those that fail out of their B&B plight and our pockets.
Which 3rd World Country is this story about?
@P Mc G: Have you ever been in a 3rd world country? Think they’d put you up in a hotel. Then feed and clothe you for free? So stop with the sensationalist garbage.
@P Mc G: not travelled much have ya?
@GrahamMManning: On the contrary!
@Almight Joe: Aw poor Ireland sure aren’t we doing our best.
@P Mc G: then how are we comparable to a third world country?
What’s wrong with obeying the rules of the hotel. Board and accommodation is free at least appreciate it .Irish people living on the streets and tents would very much like to have the opportunity to live in a free hotel. I as a tax payer like many others are Sick and tired of listening to the ongoing negetivity, if it’s not hotels ,it’s direct provision. It appears ever since this group got larger they are now complaining daily. We can get rid of Direct provision ok by making decisions quicker and getting rid of the appeals system to speed up the process. Let the individuals appeal from the home country if they feel they have a case .I would question the high number of bogus Asylum cases, this is not going to be accepted much longer as Ireland at the moment seems to be a very soft touch.
These people are human beigns they are not hotel guest its thier home for petes sake a bit of courtesy to them if the hotel are very willing to home them and take money from the government at least treat them same as any guest
have your say