Direct Provision no place for children, say Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin has said that the Direct Provision system is no place to have children.
The party has renewed its calls for the entire scheme to be scrapped, following a HIQA report which has raised grave concerns about the welfare of youngsters being raised in these centres.
The document says over 14% of children in Direct Provision in the course of one year have been referred to the child and family agency.
That compares to an average of just over 1% in the general population.
Sinn Féin's Padraig MacLochlainn has said that it is just not good enough.
"We recently completed a report into the system," said Mr MacLochlainn.
"And what we're seeing now collectively - in the HIQA report, in our report, and through the working group which is to report soon - is repeated evidence that the direct provision system is no place to have children."
