Members of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children visited St Patrick's Accommodation Centre which is located on the outskirts of Monaghan Town and home to 200 asylum seekers at 12 noon today.

Following concerns expressed by local councillors over the past several months, members of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children have been seeking to visit and meet with residents at the Reception and Integration Centre at St Patrick’s Centre (formerly the Agricultural College) just outside Monaghan town. The facility was set up some years ago to house both families and individuals who have sought asylum in Ireland, with many from the African continent currently housed there. The residents are currently going through the asylum process and many have been in the centre for years.

Local Sinn Fein county councillor Brian McKenna has pressed for the visit as a fact-finding mission as he claimed at a recent meeting of Monaghan County Council that he had received reports of concern about the wellbeing of residents and living conditions in the Centre. However, requests from Monaghan County Council for a delegation from the local authority to visit the Centre or join the Oireachtas delegation have so far been refused.

Today’s seven person delegation included the Chairman of the committee Deputy Seán O'Fearghail and local Oireachtas members Margaret Conlon and Rory O'Hanlon and Caoimghín Ó'Caoláin. The group first visited the Monaghan facility before going on to the Centre at Mosney in County Meath.