The Children's Ombudsman has told an Oireachtas Committee that the government's overhaul of direct provision faces potentially serious "pitfalls", in trying to source - and then to fund - suitable accommodation.
Dr Niall Muldoon urged Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman to ensure that this funding is obtained.
The Ombudsman told the Joint Committee on Public Petitions that he is "delighted" at the publication of the White Paper in February, saying it is "a welcome step".
But he warned that those children already in direct provision "have another few years ahead" in the system, even if everything goes "according to plan" and all direct provision centres are closed by 2024.
"If you are six years old in direct provision, and you are being told to wait three years - that's half your life", he said.
The Committee is considering the Ombudsman's report "Safety & Welfare of Children in Direct Provision", which was published in April.
There are around 4,500 people in direct provision, Dr Muldoon said, including "doctors, engineers, professors, teachers, nurses", people who are "phenomenally gifted" with so much to give Ireland.
"There's people there from construction who could help rebuild this country", Independent TD Richard O'Donoghue said.
"For generations" when Irish society faced "anyone we weren't sure of or didn't like", Dr Muldoon told the Committee, "[we] locked them up and put them away so we could ignore them and treat their children and their family members poorly."
He told the Committee that those who had been shunned included people with psychiatric issues, unmarried mothers, and those who struggle with alcoholism.
"The children of direct provision are suffering at that still," he said.
The Committee heard that residents were reluctant to complain - even to an NGO - fearing their asylum application would be denied as a consequence.
"It's a bit like when you're in hospital", Ms Nuala Ward, the Ombudsman's Director of Investigations, said, noting that residents are completely dependent on their direct provision centre.
She told the Committee that an overhaul of the inspection regime is needed, to take into account people's privacy and dignity - things which are not reflected in data-driven reports.
Ms Ward welcomed the fact that the International Protection Accommodation Service will be "actively" seeking the views of those living in the direct provision system, and coordinating its activities more closely with Tusla.
Dr Muldoon repeated his finding that Tusla "does not promote best interests of children" in direct provision, adding that the children's "vulnerability was not being recognised" or assessed by Tusla, which had also failed to gather data.
Committee Chairperson Martin Browne, Sinn Féin TD, said that this was "unbelievable".
Ms Ward said that many of the children in direct provision had suffered trauma, before arriving in a new country where they may not even speak the language. Some also struggle with mental health difficulties and special needs, she said.
Sinn Féin's Pat Buckley quoted from the report on children in direct provision during lockdown, which said that they have been "living in low level melancholy with a lack of joy in their lives".
"Keep at it - because we need the truth to be told in this country", Mr Buckley said.
"We most certainly will keep at it", Dr Muldoon vowed.
