Before 200 asylum seekers in direct provision accommodation in Limerick/Clare commenced a hunger strike (Irish Times 30/1/07) did the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform receive any prior inkling of their complaints?

The complaints are, inter alia;
a) In meals the “customers� find hair strands; pieces of broken plastic and particles of shells.

b) One toilet roll a week is allocated. Experience, shows this is inadequate.

c) Lack of cleanliness

This is a no-brainer. If it were a prison, the visiting committee would vouch the facts. The Department has been criticised previously for whimsical variation in the quality of direct provision.

The Department has, with regard to children, acknowledged its obligations to ensure that proper provision be made under its schemes or systems.

Does anyone ever answer for this kind of situation?