Newstalk has learned that up to 30 children living in emergency direct provision accommodation have not been attending school.

There are over 100 people living in emergency direct provision at The M Hotel in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.

Over 20 of them are children of all ages - and for the past two months, none of these children have been attending school.

This is a breach of European Union law.

An EU directive on reception conditions for asylum seekers states that all children in direct provision should be granted access to the education system - whether this be in local schools, or in the accommodation centres themselves.

Rebecca, who is a mother of three originally from South Africa, said no schooling has been provided to the children staying in the emergency accommodation.

She told Newstalk reporter Barry Whyte: "The situation was very bad from where I come from, so I had to come to Ireland - when I came to Ireland I was taken straight to Tracey's Hotel, that's how I ended up there".

"I've got three children: the first one is a 15-year-old girl, a 10-year-old son and a four-year-old son."

She says they have not been to school in the two months since she arrived.

"They keep telling us to wait - so we've been waiting from them - we don't know [why].

"We're still waiting from them".

She says over 20 children were in the hotel the last time she checked "but there's a few kids who just came - maybe now it can be more than 30".

Rebecca says she spoke to a local school, who told her they were full.

"They say they were full and that they will sit as a board members and then they'll get back to me.

"But until now, they never phone me".

She says all the children are "bored" - "it's a hotel and they don't have a place to play, or to do anything like any activity or something.

"They are just sitting in their room the whole day... even when they are told they are not allowed to be running through the corridors and make noise, so they just have to sit in the room and watch TV".

There are about 6,000 asylum seekers living in 39 direct provision centres in Ireland, including 1,672 children.

An additional 1,531 people, including 290 children, are in 36 emergency-accommodation centres that have opened in the past year.

In total there are 1,962 children in direct provision, but the Department of Justice said the vast majority do have access to education.

However Minister of State with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration David Stanton admitts that emergency accommodation centres do not have the same supports and services as permanent direct provision centres.

He has says he will look into the Carrickmacross situation as soon as possible.

"I'm not aware of that particular situation", he says.

"It's not common - the information I have is that all children have [education] - they may be some people newly arrived who may not get education straight away and get into school straight away.

"But it's very, very important that children that come in get into school - either preschool, primary or second level - as soon as possible because they helps with the integration".

"Part of the issue is that the accommodation in Carrickmacross  is emergency accommodation: it's bed and full board.

"Our aim and intention is to have people living in centres where we can provide the wrap-around services and supports."

"We're working very hard to move people out of the  emergency accommodation and into the centres where... all the services can be provided together, directly to the people".

"I'd like to see the  emergency accommodation closing down completely and not having it at all, and we're aiming towards that".

All this week on Newstalk we are exploring the reality of Direct Provision using the hashtag #DirectProvisionNT

Reporting by Barry Whyte