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	Private hostel owners have been the real beneficiaries of direct provision system</h2>
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		It was introduced as a way of ensuring the needs of vulnerable asylum seekers would be met. But private hostel owners, rather than asylum seekers, have been the real beneficiaries of the direct provision system.</p>
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		In April 2000 the State decided to pay private contractors to provide accommodation for newly arrived asylum seekers in hostels, hotels, convents, B&amp;Bs and mobile homes.</p>
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		It was supposed to be a temporary solution. Instead, thousands of asylum seekers have spent years in a system in which they are unable to work or access further education.</p>
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		Unpublished inspection reports into some of these centres provide a dismal snapshot of a system which shows evidence of overcrowding, poor fire safety practices and lapses in hygiene levels.</p>
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		In all, the State has given almost &euro;800 million to private firms for the provision of accommodation. All firms are contractually required to comply with legal requirements in relation to health, safety and food hygiene.</p>
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		Today, many of the companies providing shelter are large firms involved in the property, hospitality or catering business.</p>
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		Some have moved to re-register themselves as private unlimited companies in recent years, which means they have no obligation to file accounts. This shields their financial affairs from public scrutiny.</p>
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		In addition, in some cases the beneficial owners or part-owners include companies in offshore jurisdictions such as the&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Isle%20of%20Man&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Isle of Man</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=British%20Virgin%20Islands&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">British Virgin Islands</a>.</p>
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		<br />
		<strong>Declined to comment</strong><br />
		Any firms contacted by&nbsp;<em>The Irish Times</em>&nbsp;have declined to comment. They are contractually required to direct all media inquiries to the Reception and&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Integration%20Agency&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Integration Agency</a>.</p>
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		The agency said all companies were required to go through a tendering process and were contractually obliged to have valid, current tax clearance certificates. It said it could not provide details of individual contracts for commercial reasons.</p>
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		However, it is possible to piece together how much individual firms have received from the Department of Justice through purchase orders and other official documents since the direct provision system began.</p>
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		The biggest recipient is Mosney &ndash; formerly known as Mosney Holidays &ndash; which has been paid about &euro;101 million for accommodating asylum seekers at the former Butlin&rsquo;s holiday resort in Co Meath.</p>
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		It became an unlimited company in 2012 and the firm&rsquo;s shareholders include Louth businessman Phelim McCloskey and El Molino Hotels Ltd, Drogheda, Co Louth.</p>
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		El Molino &ndash; whose secretary is Mr McCloskey &ndash; in turn, has two shareholders, the Isle of Man-based Sonning Unlimited, and Tymon Company Secretaries Ltd.</p>
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		Company records for Mosney &ndash; before it became an unlimited company &ndash; show the firm was profitable. In the year to the end of October 2009 it made revenues of &euro;8.8 million and a pretax profit of &euro;122,916.</p>
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		The firm also paid donations to&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Fianna%20F%C3%A1il&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Fianna F&aacute;il</a>&nbsp;worth &euro;4,050 in 2009 and &euro;5,500 in 2008. There is no suggestion that those donations had any link to the company winning the State contract.</p>
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		East Coast Catering&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Ireland&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Ireland</a>&nbsp;is the second biggest recipient of public funds. It has received about &euro;91 million for running accommodation centres at Baleskin, Co Dublin; Hatch Hall, Dublin 2; and Carroll Village,&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Dundalk&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Dundalk</a>.</p>
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		The directors include Dundalk businessmen Denis Williams and Brian Byrne; and Canada-based businessmen Patrick O&rsquo;Callaghan and Richard Sheppard.</p>
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		The company became a private unlimited company in 2007. Accounts filed in the year prior to the change show it made a pretax profit of &euro;1.5 million on revenues of &euro;8 million.</p>
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		Bridgestock is another major recipient of funds. It has been paid about &euro;66.7 million for providing accommodation to asylum seekers in Sligo,&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Galway&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Galway</a>&nbsp;and Athlone.</p>
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		It became an unlimited company in 2012. Prior to that, company records indicate it was profitable.</p>
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		Bridgestock Ltd &ndash; then owned by S&eacute;amus and&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Kathleen%20Gillen&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Kathleen Gillen</a>&nbsp;from Tullamore, Co Offaly &ndash; had net cash flow of &euro;6 million in the year to the end of June 2008, generating an operating profit worth &euro;1.57 million. The company paid &euro;1.12 million in rent to properties owned by the Gillens in 2008.</p>
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		Latest company accounts for Bridgestock &ndash; now an unlimited company &ndash; show the majority of shares for the unlimited company were transferred to a company based in the British Virgin Islands, Bridgestock (BVI) Holdings, in November 2011.</p>
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		Millstreet Equestrian Services &ndash; whose registered address is the Green Glens Arena &ndash; provides accommodation under the direct provision system in Cork, Tipperary and Waterford.</p>
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		The company, which has received at least &euro;52 million from the State, includes Noel C Duggan and Thomas A Duggan as its directors. In 2010, it became an unlimited company. Its two shareholders are Isle of Man-based firms, Arabella Unlimited &ndash; which owns the vast majority of the company &ndash; and Tolosa Ltd.</p>
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		Other major recipients of State funding include Shaun Hennelly, a businessman based in Galway (&euro;24 million) and Cork-based Alan Hyde and Ted Murphy (&euro;9.8 million).</p>
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		<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/asylum-industry-has-become-a-cash-cow-for-big-business-1.1559616?page=1">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/asylum-industry-has-become-a-cash-cow-for-big-business-1.1559616?page=1</a></p>
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