Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2015
420. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to correspondence (details supplied), if a response has been furnished to the person; if consideration has been given to the proposal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36138/15]
View answerOn 13 May 2015, the European Commission published an EU Agenda for Migration. The Commission proposed the establishment of an EU-wide resettlement scheme to offer 20,000 resettlement places by the end of 2016. Under the new resettlement scheme, specific numbers would be allocated to all Member States, calculated on the basis of a distribution key based on GDP, size of population, unemployment rate and past numbers of asylum seekers and of resettled refugees. The distribution key would also take account of the efforts already made on a voluntary basis by Member States. The Commission's calculation envisaged Ireland accepting 272 persons over the 2015/2016 period.
Ireland had already committed to accept 220 persons over the 2015/16 period under its national resettlement programme. In response to the Commission's proposals, the Government agreed to accept an additional 300 persons bringing the total to be admitted to 520 persons by the end of 2016. Ireland is one of 27 states that participate in a refugee resettlement programme led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The focus of the Irish resettlement programme in recent years has been on the resettlement of refugees displaced by the Syrian conflict who are living in one of the hosting countries in the region, for example those living in Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey. NGOs working in cooperation with the UNHCR at a local level identify the most vulnerable persons for resettlement, regardless of their race, religion, nationality or ethnicity. UNHCR then proposes the cases to Ireland for consideration. Self referrals or referrals by other organisations do not form part of this programme. A letter was recently issued to this effect to the correspondent.
