Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2017
194. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of refugees accepted here in 2016 under the Irish refugee protection programme; if this number is deemed adequate by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45053/17]
View answerThe Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established by Government Decision on 10 September 2015 as a direct response to the humanitarian crisis that developed in Southern Europe as a consequence of mass migration from areas of conflict in the Middle East and Africa. Under this programme, the Government has pledged to accept a total of 4,000 persons into the State. Of these, 2,622 are by means of the EU relocation mechanism established by two EU Council Decisions in 2015 to assist Italy and Greece. A further 1,040 are to be sourced under the UNHCR-led refugee resettlement programme currently focussed on resettling refugees from Lebanon, and the balance through a variety of mechanisms. Some elements of this intake, such as the relocation strand, come with a time limit of two years and other elements are not time limited.
Under the resettlement strand of the Programme, 357 persons arrived in Ireland during 2016. Taken together with the previous year's intake, Ireland had taken in 519 of its original commitment of 520 by the end of 2016, a year ahead of schedule. Last year, the Government doubled its commitment under resettlement to 1,040 and the total to have arrived from Lebanon under refugee resettlement now stands at 785. The remaining 255 persons to arrive under resettlement have been selected and assessed and are expected to arrive in early 2018 together with an additional 15 persons, composed of new born babies and additional family members, giving a total of 270.
In terms of the relocation aspect of the IRPP, allocations under the relevant EU Council Decisions are composed of three elements:
- an intake from Greece of 1,089 asylum seekers
- an intake from Italy of 623 asylum seekers and
- an allocation of 910 asylum seekers which has not yet been assigned to either Italy or Greece.
Ireland will meet in full its commitment to Greece. 621 of the allocation of 1,089 are already in the State. Of these, 381 arrived during 2016. A further 390 have been assessed and are awaiting travel to Ireland. All will arrive in 2017 or early 2018.
However, Italy, unlike Greece, did not permit security assessments to be undertaken by other States on its territory. Accordingly, Ireland has been unable to undertake security assessments in Italy of the asylum seeker cohort eligible for relocation to Ireland. It has therefore not been possible for Ireland to take asylum seekers from Italy despite the most intensive efforts by Ireland to resolve the impasse, both bilaterally with Italian counterparts at official, diplomatic and Ministerial level, and at EU level.
In terms of the unallocated portion contained in the two EU Council Decisions referred to above, which in the case of Ireland amounts to 910 persons, Ireland could not access this component until a decision was taken at EU level to allocate these numbers as between Greece and Italy. Given that it is now clear the numbers of persons covered by the two Relocation Decisions do not actually exist on the ground in Greece or Italy, it is not foreseen that this number will ever be available to Ireland.
Ireland has worked actively to give effect to the EU relocation Decisions. But the relocation instruments are unlikely to deliver the numbers allocated to Ireland for the reasons set out above. In all the circumstances I am satisfied that Ireland has made every possible effort to meet its commitments, that the commitment by Ireland to accept 4,000 persons remains and that Ireland will fill any gaps arising from the relocation instruments using other mechanisms such as pledges for resettlement of programme refugees. This process is already underway and on 15 September 2017 a new pledge was made to the European Commission to take a further 345 programme refugees in 2018. We are also examining other options to ensure that Ireland delivers on its commitments and expect to make an announcement in the very near future.
