Children living in Direct Provision often feel unsafe and find the staff in these accommodation centres uncaring and rude, a new report has revealed.

Direct Provision is a means of meeting the basic needs of food and shelter for asylum seekers directly, while their claims for refugee status are being processed. As part of this, asylum seekers receive full board accommodation and personal allowances of €19.10 per adult and €9.60 per child per week.

Direct Provision was meant to be a temporary solution, however many people have been left living in these accommodation centres nationwide for years. They are not allowed to work or claim social welfare or social housing.

The report was carried out by researchers at University College Cork on behalf of the Department of Justice. It includes the results of consultations with 110 children living in Direct Provision.

According to Tanya Ward, CEO of the Children's Rights Alliance, the report's findings are ‘stark and shocking'.

"Children have been hugely critical of their lives in Direct Provision and this does not make for easy reading. It is alarming that children struggled to identify things they liked about their lives and yet could easily discuss what they did not like," she noted.

She said that one issue of serious concern was the fact that children and families felt unsafe, particularly when sharing space with single men. Some children reported that ‘men look creepy at you', while others said that ‘there are loads of men bothering us'.

The alliance called for the urgent development and implementation of a dedicated child protection and welfare strategy to deal with these concerns.

Food was another big issue, with children explaining that they cannot cook their own food and the food they are given is unhealthy or of poor quality. The alliance said that there is an urgent need to increase the number of self-catering facilities for families and a nutritional audit is required.

Meanwhile, the report also noted that many children and young people are living in very confined accommodation, with some even having to share beds with their parents. Because of the poverty families are living in, children are also missing out on childhood norms, such as having birthday parties.

Most children also said that the staff working in their centres were unfair, uncaring, rude and mean. The alliance said that this is the kind of treatment that tends to come with institutionalisation.