A child living in an international protection accommodation centre in Monaghan had to be hospitalised following the presence of pests.
That's according to the latest HIQA inspection reports carried out on asylum seeker accommodation in Ireland which highlighted that the hospitalisation was as a direct result of the presence of pests in the child's family accommodation. The results which have been published today found that there were pest control issues evident at St Patrick's Accommodation Centre in Monaghan.
According to the Health Information and Quality Authority measures had been taken by the service provider through contracting a pest control company, but these measures were ineffective in the longer term. While residents generally expressed satisfaction with the service and supports provided, this inspection identified non-compliance with several of the national standards.
The report highlighted that the local accommodation centre were not compliant in ten areas under the themes of Governance, Accountability and Leadership, Responsive Workforce, Contingency Planning and Emergency Preparedness, Accommodation, Safeguarding and Protection, and Identification, Assessment and Response to Special Needs. Six areas were Partially Compliant, three were substantially compliant, while five were compliant. There was an absence of formalised leadership and governance and management arrangements which resulted in poor oversight. Overcrowding was also an issue at the centre which meant that some adults and children had to share beds which left little room to store personal belongings.
The detailed and comprehensive report said while children and their families were accommodated together and each family had access to their own private living space, in addition to sleeping quarters, there were in some instances, cases of overcrowding and lack of space available for families to sleep in a comfortable and dignified manner. The inspectors found, from speaking with residents and from what was observed over the course of the inspection, that the residents were generally well supported and the service provider demonstrated significant efforts in integrating residents into the local community.
The inspectors found that the recruitment practices of the service provider were not safe or effective. There were no Garda Vetting checks completed for some staff members. There was a need for improvement across a number of key areas to ensure the delivery of safe and good quality services. For example, there was insufficient consultation with residents, limited oversight of the management of risk in the centre.
The centre catered for 338 residents consisting of families, couples, single females and single males. All residents had own-door accommodation, and at the time of the inspection, there were 25 studio bedrooms, adjoining bedrooms for families and 29 two-bed modular family units. The service provider told inspectors that the centre was moving towards a model of independent living. This involved the installation of cooking facilities to allow for residents to prepare their own meals. In January 2024, the centre introduced a voucher system that allowed residents to buy food from shops in Monaghan Town.
While the system was not fully functional at the time of the inspection and restricted to one store, the provider was planning on extending the voucher system to include all shops in the locality. Residents told inspectors that they welcomed this initiative and deemed it to be a significant improvement. A bus service operated to and from Monaghan town ten times daily from Monday to Friday, with a reduced service over the weekend. There was an additional school bus service during the period of the school term. Residents said that they were satisfied with the transport arrangements in place.
