“Government records, available up until 2017, show that, since the first contracts were signed in 2000, the total bill for the 17 years amounts to €1.1bn, with one family business receiving almost €140m from the State.
Ireland’s direct provision system is mired in controversy, criticised by human rights organisations, politicians of all persuasions, and has been labelled the “next mother and baby home scandal”.
A litany of complaints about health, hygiene, and civil and human rights abuses has cast the system in a dim light, with critics making a comparison with the privatised prison system in America.”
Special Report: How accommodating asylum seekers turned into a billion-euro industry (Irish Examiner, link)
And see: Ombudsman says direct provision complaints show accommodation system is unsustainable (Ombudsman, link)