Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
975. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the national and EU funding initiatives for local authorities engaging in social inclusion initiatives with regard to migrant communities and asylum seekers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33649/20]
View answerWhile my Department does not provide direct funding to local authorities for engaging in social inclusion initiatives with migrant communities and asylum seekers, my officials work closely with Local Authorities in resettling refugees arriving in the country under Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).
The Government avails of two sources of EU funding to support migrant integration programmes: the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) 2014-2020 and the European Social Fund Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014–2020. My Department is responsible for mobilising EU funding under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) while the Department of Education and Skills is the designated authority in Ireland for policy and operational matters related to the ESF PEIL. My Department is a beneficiary under that funding programme.
In 2015, as part of Ireland's response to the migration crisis in central and southern Europe, the Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP). Under this programme, the Government committed to accepting up to 4,000 people into the State, primarily through a combination of the EU Relocation Programme and the UNHCR's Refugee Resettlement Programme. To date, more than 3,350 people have arrived in the State under the first phase of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) and it is expected that we will welcome the remaining complement in due course.
Last December, a second phase of the programme was announced giving a commitment to welcome a further 2,900 refugees between this year and 2023 through a combination of resettlement and community sponsorship. The Government also announced on 01 October that Ireland will welcome up to 50 people in family groups from Greece under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) following displacement from the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos due to the recent fire that destroyed the camp.
The implementation of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) for resettling refugees requires a high level of coordination among service delivery agencies at the local level, with support from my Department's IRPP team. Local authorities play a critical role in ensuring the success of each resettlement through a process carried out by an implementing partner with expertise in community integration and relevant supports.
The IRPP team have agreements with Local Authorities on numbers to be allocated to housing provided by the Local Authorities over a defined period. The IRPP funds a programme whereby the Local Authorities engage the implementing partner organisation to assist with the resettlement operations – providing advice, guidance, etc. to refugees once they settle in their new homes in the community. Each family has the support of an assigned resettlement worker to assist with the transition along with the support of a full-time Resettlement Support Worker and an Intercultural Support Worker. The Local Authorities are paid an agreed grant amount to fund this aspect of the operation. This is paid from Exchequer funding. However,a certain amount of that expenditure can be eligible for recoupment from the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
