Direct Provision: 'Some of them said to me, I would prefer to be

There are over 4,000 people living in Direct Provision, the state's system for accommodating asylum seekers. A third of these people are children. The majority of asylum seekers spend an average of three years in Direct Provision, although many people have been waiting far longer.

In 2014, the then-minister of state Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and then-Justice Minister, Frances Fitzgerald appointed former High Court judge Bryan McMahon chair of a working group on Direct Provision. The working group's report was published in June 2015. Bryan McMahon joined Marian Finucane on Saturday, to talk about Direct Provision, how he and his colleagues came up with the report and what has happened since it was published.

"If you were told that you had to go into the Gresham Hotel for six years and you had to get up and have your breakfast there between 9 and 10 every morning, your lunch there between 12.30 and 1.30, your dinner there… you would go mad."

Judge McMahon's two main problems with Direct Provision are: the length of time that people spend in it and the fact that they're not allowed to work. He told Marian that these two issues can be overcome relatively easily: the processing system could be speeded up and people could be allowed to work after 9 months. The fact that people go into the system without knowing when they'll be allowed out has a serious effect on asylum seekers' morale. This, coupled with the fact that they're not allowed to work, results in people walking around, idle, for years. And this in turn leads, Bryan McMahon said, to asylum seekers becoming "deskilled, depressed and institutionalised."

"Some of them said to me, I would prefer to be in jail because I would have a definite sentence and I would know when I'm getting out."

By contrast to Direct Provision, Judge McMahon presides over citizenship ceremonies – which he describes as a wonderful celebration – something that he relishes doing. Since the ceremonies were initiated by former Justice Minister Alan Shatter 6 years ago, he told Marian, 110,000 new citizens have been welcomed from 161 countries. It could almost be a tale of two countries.

You can hear the full discussion with Former High Court Judge Bryan McMahon and listen back to the rest of The Marian Finucane Show here.