I assume the Deputy is referring to the Reception and Integration Agency, which has been established following a decision of the Government in March last year. Pending the enactment of legislation, the Reception and Integration Agency – which has replaced the Directorate for Asylum Support Services and, with effect from 2 April last, incorporated the Refugee Agency – will operate on a non-statutory basis.
The decision to establish the Reception and Integration Agency follows an earlier decision of the Government that the recommendations in the report of the interdepartmental working group on the integration of refugees in Ireland should form the framework for integration policy and be implemented. The establishment of a single organisational structure – within the overall framework of structures for asylum and immigration – for co-ordinating and implementing integration policy is one of the key recommendations of the working group. The Reception and Integration Agency is the vehicle for implementing this recommendation and its establishment facilitates a cohesive, co-ordinated approach to both the reception of asylum seekers and the integration of refugees. Until recently, both the Directorate for Asylum Support Services and the Refugee Agency, which operated under the aegis of my own Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs, respectively, had functions in relation to the integration of different categories of refugees. The new arrangements have rationalised previous structures and represent a more effective use of resources.