Recent inspections by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) revealed that operators of some International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centres had not obtained the required Garda vetting for certain employees. Institutions in question include Dublin Central Inn on Talbot Street, Atlantic Lodge in Kenmare, Co Kerry, and King Thomond Hotel in Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare. The Grand Hotel in Wicklow town had alright vetting for permanent staff, however, contract staff members were under scrutiny.
In response, Hiqa issued immediate “compliance plans” to these four centres’ operators, which led to satisfactory solutions in most situations to address the inadequate vetting.
Following these inspections, Hiqa released six reports, which detail the state of international protection centres throughout the country. Two centres were named compliant or semi-compliant with all standards: the Eglinton Centre in Salthill, Co Galway, and Birchwood House in Waterford city.
The Grand Hotel’s inspection highlighted the presence of 104 international protection applicants and 175 men in emergency accommodation within two major dormitory rooms in the same complex. However, Hiqa noted that its inspection remit did not cover the conditions for those in emergency accommodation at The Grand Hotel.
The report also pointed out that the current environment at the Grand Hotel exposed residents to various risks from unsupervised children accessing the emergency accommodation areas to incidents of aggression among the center’s occupants and staff, and potential risks linked to the resident’s specific vulnerabilities and complex mental health needs.
The report highlighted that since the beginning of the year, there have been multiple reported incidents at the centre that led An Garda Síochána to intervene. A Hiqa report discovered that asylum seekers at the centre in Co Laois were feeling insecure. The King Thomond Hotel has evidently faced issues around child safety due to the absence of a supervision and child-minding policy for parents residing there. Consequently, persistent child safety concerns went unrecognized for a substantial amount of time before the inspection because the service provider remained oblivious. Once the management team was alerted about the concerns, they addressed it suitably. However, the centre lacks structured procedures to oversee the children when their parents are not around.