Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 January 2016
282. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the locations identified by her Department to house the 4,000 refugees Ireland has committed to; the progress in establishing a network of Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres; when the examination of the State's property portfolio to assess their suitability for use as centres will be concluded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2935/16]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was approved by Government Decision on 10 September 2015 in response to the migration crisis which has developed in Southern Europe, and as an act of solidarity with other Member States. Under this decision, the Government confirmed that Ireland will take in up to 4,000 persons over the next two years in order to give to give effect to the EU legal instruments it has opted into, with approval of the Oireachtas, in respect of relocation and the solemn commitments Ireland has also entered into in respect of resettlement refugees.
Among the measures agreed under the Programme was the establishment of a Network of Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres (EROCs) which would be used to provide initial accommodation in order to meet the basic needs of asylum seekers relocated from hotspots in Italy and Greece while their applications for refugee status are processed. Under the provisions of the EU relocation programme, persons considered for relocation who will be accommodated in EROCs upon arrival, must be from countries with a recognition rate for asylum of at least 75%. Accordingly, the expectation is that a large proportion of relocated persons will qualify for refugee status within a relatively short space of time after which they can seek housing in the wider community.
In addition, the Government has committed under the Programme to take in additional resettlement refugees who must also be temporally accommodated in EROCs for the purposes of reception, orientation and integration training, prior to being resettled in communities across Ireland. In this specific regard two EROCs were opened in the past year, one in County Kildare and one in Co. Waterford.
Officials in my Department, responsible for implementing the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), were tasked with the sourcing of further suitable accommodation and orientation services for the proposed network of EROCs. This involves an assessment of information regarding available State properties provided by the Office of Public Works and a request for expressions of interest from commercial accommodation providers. The commercial expressions of interest are being evaluated alongside the information provided by OPW in respect of State properties. As these processes remain ongoing it would not be appropriate, for reasons of confidentiality and commercial sensitivity, for me to comment further on the possible locations of such properties .
As for the longer term housing requirements of people coming into the State under the IRPP, a sub-group of the cross-departmental Taskforce established by the Government to oversee the implementation of the Programme is in the process of developing a housing strategy for those leaving their temporary EROC accommodation to be resettled in communities across Ireland. The process of developing this longer term housing strategy will also take into consideration the many pledges of accommodation received from members of the public in response to the migration crisis. These pledges are currently being assessed on behalf of the Government by the Irish Red Cross. This issue where persons arriving into Ireland under the relevant programmes will be ultimately be housed remains a work in progress and no overall decisions have yet been taken in this regard.
