Quarter Of Residents In Laois IPAS Centre Granted Permission To Stay In Ireland

The inspection took place at Didean Portlaoise in September.

A quarter of residents staying in an asylum seeker accomodation centre in Laois already have permission to stay in Ireland.

The HIQA inspection on Didean Portlaoise found nine people had gotten some form of status, meaning they were no longer automatically eligible to stay there.

The accommodation consists of nine self contained houses and apartments, three of which are shared houses between six families.

The inspection took place on September 2nd and 3rd of this year with 34 people living there at the time, 18 of whom were children.

Nine had gotten either refugee or leave to remain status or subsidiary protection.

That's 26% of all residents, despite the centre's purpose being to house those seeking international protection.

All categories were compliant or substantially compliant, with inspectors noting improvements to be made in the areas of risk analysis and some issues relating to residents rights.

A comprehensive risk management system was in place, but no fire drill procedures were carried out at night time.

HIQA also states childminding restrictions for parents, a ban on personalising accommodation and entering residents homes when not present impacted on them from a rights-based perspective.

Overall, residents were very positive about the staff team and the supports offered to them.

More from Midlands News

Download Our App