The Department of Justice claims its management of the direct provision system, which included a Cahersiveen centre, during the early stages of the pandemic “worked, by and large.”
Secretary General Oonagh McPhillips of the Department of Justice and Equality was responding to questions at an Oireachtas Committee hearing, about the department’s handling of accommodation for asylum seekers earlier this year.
She claims the department had to procure over 850 beds in March to keep people socially distanced, no one got seriously ill and communications with the HSE improved as the pandemic went on.
Skellig Star Accommodation Centre in Cahersiveen was one of the worst affected centres nationwide; over 20 residents and staff tested positive for COVID-19 during April and May.
Following questioning from Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, Secretary General McPhillips said that “the proof in the pudding is that people were kept safe.”
