<p>
	The State has paid private businesses almost &euro;890m to run centres used in the discredited direct provision system for asylum seekers.</p>
<p>
	Data obtained by the Irish Independent details how some firms have earned huge sums from the system, under which people applying for refugee status must live in State-sponsored accommodation and are not allowed work.</p>
<p>
	Plans to introduce a new tendering system have been put on hold while a report by an independent review group, set up to examine the direct provision system, is examined by the Government.</p>
<p>
	Initially brought in as a short term measure, direct provision has become a huge money spinner for firms awarded contracts by the Government.</p>
<p>
	Data shows 134 firms or individuals were contracted to provide direct provision services since its introduction in 2000.</p>
<p>
	The companies are paid &euro;30 each day per person in the case of privately owned centres and &euro;15.50 per person in centres owned by the State.</p>
<p>
	An analysis of the figures shows a core set of companies have consistently had their contracts renewed - with 20 companies having been paid at least &euro;10m or more by the state in the last 15 years.</p>
<p>
	The biggest beneficiary has been Mosney Irish Holidays, the firm which runs a direct provision centre in Co Meath.</p>
<p>
	It has received payments totalling &euro;113.2m since 2000.</p>
<p>
	East Coast Catering Ltd, the company which runs the Balseskin reception centre in Co Dublin, has been paid &euro;107m since 2001.</p>
<p>
	Bridgestock Ltd, which has run reception centres throughout the west of Ireland, has been paid &euro;91.7m to date, while the company run by businessman Noel C Duggan, Millstreet Equestrian Services Ltd, has received contracts worth &euro;65.3m.</p>
<p>
	Several of the firms have moved from being limited companies to being unlimited ones in recent years, meaning they do not have to disclose accounts or reveal profits.</p>
<p>
	Ownership</p>
<p>
	The ultimate ownership of a number of firms is also held by other companies offshore.</p>
<p>
	There are currently over 4,400 residents living in 34 centres around the country. More than half have had to live in a centre for at least four years.</p>
<p>
	Direct provision providers contacted by the Irish Independent said they were not permitted to comment and that queries should be directed to the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA).</p>
<p>
	A value-for-money study conducted in 2010 recommended a more open tendering system amid concern not enough companies were applying to provide services. However, the RIA said the implementation of a new system had been stalled by a legal challenge to the direct provision model.</p>
<p>
	A recent analysis of the direct provision system in by a Government-appointed working group has also delayed moves to change the tendering system.</p>
<p>
	&quot;Quite clearly there would be no point in designing a complex tendering process and find that during its operation the whole basis for it had fundamentally changed as a result of external factors such as a court finding or the working group process,&quot; the agency said in a statement.</p>
<p>
	The RIA said each firm tendering to provide direct provision services needed to have a valid tax clearance certificate.</p>
<p>
	It said there was no contractual requirement for companies providing services to be registered in Ireland, but it understood all were currently registered here. A rigorous inspection system is in place to ensure quality and standards.</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/state-pays-firms-890m-for-running-centres-that-hold-asylum-seekers-31271290.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/state-pays-firms-890m-for-running-centres-that-hold-asylum-seekers-31271290.html</a></p>
