Mosney Accommodation Centre in Co Meath now provides "a template for other direct provision centres to follow", according to the chairman of an expert group which published a landmark report on the State's treatment of asylum seekers two years ago.
Former Judge Dr Bryan McMahon was speaking exclusively to RTÉ News on a visit to Mosney's Friends of the Centre Family Day, which was attended by representatives from more than 40 different organisations.
Dr McMahon was shown several new facilities at Mosney, including the Mosney Food Hall.
The food hall has replaced the former canteen and allows residents to acquire their own food, through a points system, which they can then cook in their own homes.
He said: "When we visited in 2014, one of the most common complaints from residents was that they couldn't cook for themselves and that all their meals had to be taken in a central canteen.
"It was served up to them and they didn't have any choice."Just walking around today and speaking to the residents they seem to be a different people to those we visited. They seem to be much happier.
Chairman of expert group says Mosney provides a "template for other direct provision centres to follow" pic.twitter.com/e6rvntxgys
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"They have a semblance of a real family life and while this doesn't address the fundamental problems with the processing of asylum seekers, namely the determination and the right to work, it nevertheless is a big step forward in their everyday lives.
"They feel they have some independence regained and they have dignity."
Dr McMahon's comments come after he told RTÉ's Marian Finucane programme that people caught up in the direct provision system were forced to live in conditions which are worse than prison.
"There's certainly a lot of reconfiguration to be done in other centres.
"Nevertheless, in relation to food, food provision and family life, I think this is the model that other centres have to follow now. It can be done and it should be done in other centres, as far as it is possible," he said.
Sarah Gates, director of Mosney, said there is a lot of curiosity about what happens in Mosney.
She added: "Unfortunately, there's a terribly negative press about the whole asylum process and all centres get tarred with the same brush.
"Nobody actually sees a day like this with smiling happy children and normal families, like you would find in any village in any county in Ireland."
Mosney Accommodation Centre is home to more than 700 asylum seekers from 39 different countries.
