The Committee on Justice and Equality invites written submissions from stakeholders and interested parties on the issues of direct provision and the international protection application process.

In particular, the Committee wishes to consider what can be done in the short to medium term to improve the:

welfare and conditions of people living in the direct provision system

efficiency of the current system of processing international protection claims, in order to bring policies, practices and laws into line with international best practice and standards

The Committee also wishes to look beyond the current system of direct provision in Ireland and consider whether there are better models or alternatives we could pursue.

The Committee will commence a series of public hearings on these issues on 22 May 2019, with a view to publishing a report in the autumn.

Closing date

The closing date for receipt of submissions is Friday, 31 May 2019.

How to send your submission

Please email an electronic document (PDF/MS Word or equivalent) to directprovision@oireachtas.ie.

Please do not send hard copies of your submission; hard copies will not be accepted.

Please do not send your submission to individual Committee members. The Clerk will ensure all members receive copies of all submissions.

What to include in your submission

Your submission should comprise your submission document and a separate covering letter. This allows the Committee to publish your submission without your contact details.

In the covering letter, please include:

your name, postal address, email address and contact telephone number

if the submission is on behalf of an organisation, your position in the organisation

a brief outline of why you are making the submission

In the submission document please include:

a brief introduction, for example, explaining your area of expertise

any factual information that you have to offer from which the Committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could be put to other parties for their reactions

links to any publications you refer to; there is no need to send such publications as attachments

any recommendations to the Committee; be as specific as possible and summarise your recommendations at the end of the document

if your document is more than 10 pages long, an executive summary of the main points made in the submission

Please remember to be concise and to number your pages.

Important information

Submissions sent to any other email address may not be accepted.

Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted and will be rejected.

Petitions and form letters may not be accepted or published.

Submissions made to a Committee may be published as received, either as part of a Committee report or separately, if the Committee decides to do so.

Making a submission is a public process

The Committee is not obliged to accept your document once it has been submitted, nor is it obliged to publish any or all of the submission if it has been accepted. However, the operations of a parliament are a public process, and you should be aware that any submissions made to a Committee including your identity may be published either as part of a Committee report, or separately, if the Committee decides to do so.

Need more guidance?

If you would like more detailed guidance, please read the guidance note Making Submissions and Presentations to Oireachtas Committees below or contact the clerk to the Committee.

Clerk to the Committee

Damian Byrne

damian.byrne@oireachtas.ie

(01) 618 3899



Committee on Justice and Equality

Committee Secretariat,

Houses of the Oireachtas Service,

Kildare Street,

Dublin 2,

D02 XR20