Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 December 2013
45. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the data available on the costs of housing refugees in Ireland in 2012; the figures in absolute numbers and in percentage of the total bilateral overseas development assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54601/13]
View answerMatters relating to refugees in Ireland are coordinated by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) under the auspices of the Minister for Justice and Equality. Details of the services and supports available to refugees are published on the website of the linked Reception and Integration Agency. A number of other Government Departments also have responsibilities in this regard, including the Departments of Social Protection, Health and Children, Education and Skills and Foreign Affairs and Trade. Comprehensive information relating to the number of refugees in Ireland or the cost of providing housing for them is not available in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. However, every year the Department submits to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) details of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure in the previous year. In line with DAC and internationally-recognised reporting definitions and criteria, donors may include, as eligible ODA, certain expenditure relating to the maintenance of refugees during the first twelve months of their stay in the host country, most notably for the provision of food, shelter and training. Such costs for 2012, estimated at €101,000 by the Department of Justice and Equality, represented only a very small proportion of Ireland’s total ODA spend of €628 million that year. It should be noted that costs associated with the integration of refugees into the economy of the donor country, or resettlement within the donor country, are specifically excluded by the DAC from ODA eligibility.
