As the Minister is detained, does Deputy Eamonn Maloney wish to defer his matter?
Topical Issue Debate
I would appreciate it if I could defer the issue I have raised on private rented accommodation until next week.
That is fine. I thank Deputy Maloney.
Child and Family Agency Expenditure
I thank the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Paudie Coffey, for attending to take this matter. While he is a colleague from a neighbouring constituency and a good friend, I am disappointed the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is not here.
An alarming and savage blow was announced yesterday morning when Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, informed ACCORD, the Catholic Marriage and Preparation Counselling Service, of the cutting of its total annual funding by €378,000. It is a savage blow five months on. To make it worse, the Tusla letter bizarrely informed ACCORD that its decision to cut the funding is retrospective and took effect from 1 January 2015, notwithstanding that the letter is dated 7 May 2015. It is scandalous. This organisation does a great deal of good work throughout the country and the timing of the cut is very strange. Tusla cited the delay in the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly, approving the budget as the reason for the retrospectivity of the cut.
The Minister has now arrived.
I got him in for Deputy McGrath.
I am delighted. Will I start again?
Whatever the Deputy thinks.
I am in the Chair's hands.
Start again.
I welcome the Minister. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, informed ACCORD, the Catholic Marriage and Preparation Counselling Service, that €378,000 was being withdrawn from its funding for 2015. Bizarrely, the Tusla letter informed ACCORD that its decision to cut the funding is retrospective and took effect from 1 January 2015, notwithstanding that the letter is dated 7 May 2015. These are very strange goings on. I am glad the Minister is here as Tusla cited the delay in the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly, approving the budget for the retrospectivity of the cut. Where was the Minister and why did he not sign off on the funding? This is scandalous carry on. Other agencies have also been affected.
This has occurred against the background of a staggering donation of $8 million from Atlantic Philanthropies. I wonder what is happening there. On the website of Atlantic Philanthropies, it states that its explicit aim is to fund groups "to work inside the machinery of Government" to advance its ideological agenda. It is a bold statement on its website. That agenda is in direct opposition to ACCORD's stated view on the upcoming referendum. This is unprecedented and makes the controversy surrounding former adviser Frank Flannery and access to Fine Gael and government corridors look like a goldfish bowl by comparison. It is unreal that Atlantic has that statement on its website. The funding is coming from outside organisations. I welcome the funding Atlantic Philanthropies has given to certain community projects, but this funding is completely off the radar and in support of agencies to interfere in a referendum process here.
As the Minister knows, ACCORD has seven centres nationally and in 2013 provided 50,959 counselling hours to 9,867 clients and 727 marriage preparation courses to 7,631 couples. At the same time, 32,139 children participated in its schools programme. Wonderful work has been done. While planning its work for this year and continuing its outreach services, it is told halfway through the year that its funding has been slashed. I did not think the Minister would be here, but I note that he said in October that the Department was going to boost Tusla's funding by €26 million. Does he know what he is doing or where he is? Does he know he is out of the Department of Health and in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs? Is he a spinning top? Does he know what a hames he made of health and does he want to do the same with the Child and Family Agency? Does he know the importance of that area? He is the same Minister who said after the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act was introduced that he would cut the funding of hospitals that did not participate and carry out the procedures he wanted. Is that not threatening, bullying and intimidating behaviour intended to get his way at all costs?
I put it to the Minister that this attack could not have come at a worse time for the Government's "Yes" campaign and is a despicable attack on an agency. What is the message it sends to Catholic agencies and others which are doing tremendous work if the referendum is passed? They will have to go whistle for their money and will get nothing. The Government will not give it to them. The Minister said Tusla was to get an increase of €26 million, yet it is imposing cuts on this and many other agencies. I brought up Atlantic Philanthropies because I am very worried. I asked the Tánaiste this morning about the electoral commission because Atlantic Philanthropies have funded groups like the Irish Council for Civil Liberties to the tune of €7 million, Amnesty International Ireland to the tune of €5 million, Tusla to the tune of €8 million and GLEN to the tune of €4 million. That amounts to €24 million. All of these quangos and Government agents are doing the work of the "Yes" campaign in the referendum. It is interference and a despicable attack on a sovereign state which undermines what democracy is about: a free and unhindered vote of the people. The chickens have come home to roost and the genie is out of the bottle.
The Minister needs to stand up, measure up and restore this funding. The Minister and his Government colleagues need to put some manners on these organisations. These quangos are doing the work of the Government, at its bidding, because people are expecting promotions on State boards. They are protecting everything else and they are all interlinked.
Deputy McGrath will have another two minutes after the Minister's reply.
I hope I get a decent answer.
I thank the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to address this issue and I would like to clarify issues around the funding of ACCORD by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.
I cannot hear the Minister.
There has been much comment on this issue over the past 24 hours and much of it ill-informed. This Government is delivering the most comprehensive reform of policy and provision for children, young people and families in the history of the State and our commitment to continuing that work remains strong and resolute. Indeed, I must make my apologies to the House as I was delayed because I was in the other House, the Seanad, dealing with a new Bill which will end the practice of placing children and people under 18 years of age in adult prisons, either for detention or on remand. The reform continues. This Government is committed to strengthening and developing our child care, protection and welfare services. The Government has provided Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, with significant additional funding in 2015 to enable it deliver on its mandate, as Deputy McGrath has rightly pointed out.
Tusla has a total budget of €643 million in 2015, made up of €631 million in current funding and €12 million in capital. This increase of €34 million is a 5.3% increase on funding for the agency in 2014. This level of funding demonstrates clearly that despite the overall national budgetary constraints, this Government is strongly supporting the delivery of critically important reforms needed to support Ireland's children and families. Of course, this comes on the back of the worst recession this country has ever experienced. This additional funding will help drive key priorities in the reform of children and family services. Despite the increase in funding, Tusla has calculated that it still needs to make significant savings in 2015 and the announcement of a funding reduction to ACCORD is but one of a wide range of funding change announcements by Tusla over the past days. It should be remembered that Tusla funds in the region of 700 organisations around the country.
The establishment of Tusla has presented an opportunity to explore new approaches to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged children and families. Through a comprehensive scoping exercise across all services, Tusla has begun the process of identifying where the resources can be used to best effect and in a manner consistent with its mandate. Tusla is undertaking a restructuring of its existing funding allocation to ensure priority is given to counselling services that best support and promote the development, welfare and protection of children and effective functioning of families.
ACCORD provides a range of services in a number of areas. It provides marriage and relationship counselling services for people who are experiencing difficulties in their relationships. Quite separately, it provides marriage preparation courses for people who are getting married in the Catholic Church. In 2014, ACCORD received €1.992 million in core funding from Tusla and in 2015 it will receive funding in excess of €1.6 million.
Tusla will spend approximately €6 million this year on counselling services, including the provision of significant funding to ACCORD, which amounts to more than a quarter of the available funding. Tusla has determined that marriage preparation courses, which are paid for by couples, do not form part of its core mission. I am informed by Tusla that it does not provide funding to any other dedicated marriage preparation courses. Tusla is targeting available funding at its core mission, which is supporting and promoting the development, welfare and protection of children and the effective functioning of families.
The chief executive of Tusla, Mr. Gordon Jeyes, has made clear that the funding decisions of his executive, which were approved by the Tusla board, were in no way related to the marriage equality referendum. Anyone who suggests that the reduction in funding for ACCORD is in any way related to the referendum should remember that other organisations who support a Yes vote in the referendum have been the subject of reductions as well. I would draw the attention of Deputies to a letter from the chief executive of Barnardos in today's edition of The Irish Times.
At all times, Tusla has endeavoured to ensure, where funding adjustments are being applied, that they will not affect front-line services, overlap of services will be reduced, backroom functions will be streamlined and that the services received will be of the utmost quality as outlined in Tusla's business plan for 2015. I want to assure the House that, in furtherance of Government policy for child and family services, Tusla is working with service providers on managing their budgets and the delivery of services to children and families across the country.
The Minister did not answer the questions. He did not refer to the €8 million that Tusla received from Atlantic Philanthropies. He did not respond to the fact that he said in October that he was giving €26 million extra to Tusla, yet here we are. He failed completely to address the situation. Tusla itself has stated the reason the cuts run out on 7 May is because the Minister did not sign off on the budgets. I asked him what he was doing and where he was. Was he as láthair? Was he ina chodladh? He has a job to do. Why did he wait until 7 May to implement this?
The Minister can gloss over the figures all he likes but-----
Is é an Rialtas a thug an Teachta McGrath tacaíocht dó a bhí ina chodladh
Nach maith an fear é an tAire. Was he in Tiobraid Árann? He is welcome to the Tipperary-Offaly border anytime, but the accountable place is here. He should not be quoting what Fergus Finlay writes in The Irish Times. He is the accountable line Minister. Fergus Finlay is not a Minister although at times one would think he was when he is pontificating and when he is promoted to this board, that board and the other. It is all very unsavoury.
I must, with respect, ask the Deputy to withdraw that statement. That gentlemen is not here to defend himself.
It was the Minister who brought up his name.
I do not think Deputy McGrath should insult him in that way.
The Minister brought his name into the equation.
We should have a bit of fairness and a bit of equity.
If I caused any offence by mentioning his name, I withdraw it.
It is withdrawn.
However, the Minister should withdraw his reference to him and his letter in The Irish Times. It would be better for the Minister to do his job as Minister instead of reading The Irish Times and the letters by Fergus Finlay and all his other supporters and cheerleaders promoting him and other people as well. Noel Whelan is another pundit. Should I say Mr. Whelan or maybe I should not mention his name at all? Let me say a pundit. I withdraw the name.
Deputy McGrath has mentioned a few names.
A pundit on RTE recently said that Catholic agencies that would not toe the line on the Government referendum would have funding cut. I did not see any more. That was on prime time television. I watched it. Bhí mé ag éisteacht agus ag féachaint-----
Ní raibh an Teachta ag éisteacht go maith.
---- and it was loud and clear. That is what is going on.
Deputy McGrath is watching too much television.
I can tell Deputy Wallace that I watch very little television.
This is an outrageous cut, given it is four and a half months late. The other organisations are also trying to plan their year. The Minister said that Tusla will cut back on overlaps and everything else. It will and it is spending the money well and doing some wonderful work. This is true of other agencies as well. However, to announce a cut in the budget at this time, when the Minister said last October that he was giving it €26 million extra suggests there is something wrong with the Minister. Is he mixed up or confused? Does the Minister have any word at all? Some €26 million extra was announced, but funding is being cut. The Minister is saying that he increased the money by 5%. The sum of €26 million would be much more than 5%. It would be a handsome increase of over one third.
Sílim go bhfuil an t-am istigh.
The Minister seems to be as lost in this Department as he was in the last one. It is very disappointing and disquieting. I am glad that the Minister made it from the Seanad to this House to reply but he might as well have stayed there because he did not answer any of the questions.
I ask the Minister to make a concluding statement. He has two minutes.
There is an adage that says that there are none so blind as those who will not see and none so deaf as those who will not listen.
They all saw and heard what the Minister told them in October.
Gabhaim leithscéal leis an Teachta, lena thoil. I did reference the extra money. I said in October that Tusla would get €26 million extra. It got €26 million extra and it got extra money in capital as well. I did reference that.
Where did it come from? Why the cuts?
I explained to Deputy McGrath that notwithstanding the additional money, the pressures that it is under mean that it has to make cuts across the system. The Deputy may not understand that but that is the reality in all budgets. As a result of increasing demand-----
I am able to add two and two.
We have a growing population. We have one of the youngest populations in Europe. That is to our strength and that is to our future and I welcome the fact.
Deputy McGrath alleges that I will not give any money to ACCORD after the referendum. I have made it clear that it is in receipt of €1.6 million this year and that remains the case.
Provided they vote the right way.
I want to put on the record of this House that my Department and I value very much the counselling and mediation services ACCORD provides to married couples. The same applies to Tusla and that is why it continues to fund ACCORD. I have made it clear that pre-marriage counselling and training is not the core mission of Tusla.
Bishop Nulty stated on radio that the money allowed ACCORD to do a little extra in terms of the provision of pamphlets and manuals. We would prefer not to have to cut anyone's budget, but this is the reality.
The Deputy alluded to Atlantic Philanthropies. I want to ensure no message from this House in any way undermines or disrespects the wonderful work Atlantic Philanthropies has done in this country.
I acknowledged that.
It is very much involved in early prevention for families that need support.
It is interfering in the democratic process. It is blatant.
As for the Deputy's other allegation that I did not sign off on the budget because bhí mé as láthair-----
I did not say that.
-----I signed off on it in December 2014. The business plan was another matter entirely.
Tusla stated that; I did not.
No; again, the Deputy is misinterpreting.
We are close to winding up.
The Deputy chose to misinterpret it.
I am not misinterpreting; Tusla stated it.
The Minister to continue, without interruption.
I could refer to how, despite the budgetary constraints on the health system, inpatient waiting times had decreased-----
What?
-----and how we had introduced the country's first air ambulance service. The Deputy supported a Government that was in place for 14 years-----
Stop. The Minister is obviously confused.
-----and which had more money than any previous Government, but he could not have an air ambulance service put in place.
We are running out of time.
The Minister is confused. He should go to Beaumont Hospital, Clonmel or anywhere else.
I wish to revert to the core issue.
Please, Minister, we are running out of time.
I know and assume the Acting Chairman is running out of patience.
Actually we have run out of time.
I will put this to the House clearly and straight - the operational decision made by Tusla and signed off on by its board was its decision and the Government had no influence over it. If we were to interfere, we would be accused of trying to fix the referendum.
The Government did so, but it backfired.
There was no such interference.
It was an own goal.
My good friend, the people know and understand this was Tusla's decision, not the Government's. The Government had no hand, act or part in it.
Child Care Costs
I thank the Minister for attending to take this Topical Issue debate and the Ceann Comhairle's office for giving me the opportunity to raise what is an important matter that has been debated for the past ten or 15 years, namely, the high cost of child care. The financial strain placed on families, particularly young families, by having to pay €2,000 per month for two children to be kept in child care facilities is, as the Minister knows, unfair on parents. It creates difficulties for families' budgets, given the other cuts people have had to take in recent years because of the country's economic problems. For example, they must pay property taxes, water charges and USC. The high cost of child care has made it financially unfeasible for both parents to work. It makes more sense for one of them to give up work to look after their children, even though they desire to return to the workforce. As the Minister is aware, a study entitled, The Baby Brain Drain, concluded that 3,000 new mothers left the workforce annually, giving rise to a figure of €68 million in recruitment and training costs. This is having a detrimental effect on the economy. We must keep women in the workforce, contributing to the tax coffers, but doing so is uneconomic for them.
My colleagues and I in Renua Ireland have devised a policy. With the economic position improving, we must consider providing a tax credit for parents and crèche operators to help the hard-pressed, squeezed middle. Many families are being sandwiched by costs and cuts.
The inflexibility of maternity leave arrangements needs to be examined. We propose that six months of maternity leave be taken by both parents, with three months being taken by each, with the leave being renamed as "parental leave".
The local property tax was to provide money to improve communities, but that has not happened. In 2013 the Commission on Taxation recommended the introduction of a site valuation charge. This would have ring-fenced money and ensured the availability of more affordable child care facilities in communities, thereby relieving families of an unfair burden. I plead with the Minister to consider this suggestion on behalf of families. Many talented women are denied an opportunity to contribute to and play their part in the workforce because of exorbitant crèche fees. Will the Minister outline his plan of action? He is in discussions with the Minister for Finance and has set up a cross-departmental group that will make recommendations by the summer on how to deal with this issue. A second year of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme has been mooted.
I am pleased to answer the Deputy and outline the Government's position on child care. I thank him for his question.
High-quality and well-structured investment in the early years of a child's life is widely recognised as being one of the most strategic investments we can make with public funding. Children are at a critical stage in their development in their early years and we have a golden opportunity to set them on the right path for their future - for all of our futures - by investing wisely in them at that stage. They are not the only beneficiaries. When they are given opportunities to develop to their full potential, we all benefit - parents, families, communities, wider society and the economy. It is because the Government recognised the critical importance of investment in children's early years that we worked hard to protect expenditure in this area, despite the dire economic circumstances that we had inherited. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs invests more than €250 million in child care each year. This is before spending on children by other Departments is taken into consideration.
The Government is well aware that Ireland's investment in this area is lower than in many other OECD countries and that parents face considerable difficulties in accessing quality and affordable child care. It is constrained in its ability to increase this investment significantly, as the recovery in the public finances is not yet complete and resources remain limited. Furthermore, I am strongly committed to ensuring every euro we invest in children is invested wisely. This is the area in which we get the greatest return for every euro we invest.
A number of programmes are in place to support parents with child care costs, the most significant of which in terms of State investment is the ECCE programme. This universal programme provides for one free preschool year for all eligible children before commencing primary school. More than €170 million is invested in the programme annually, reducing the child care costs of parents by more than €2,300 per child. Approximately 67,000 children benefit from the guaranteed investment for which the programme provides.
The community child care subvention programme funds community not-for-profit child care services to allow them to provide quality child care at reduced rates for disadvantaged and low-income working parents. More than 25,000 children benefit from this programme annually.
A number of further initiatives have been introduced under the training and employment child care programmes to support parents who are participating in training or educational courses in order to return to the workforce. They include the child care education and training support programme which provides subsidised child care places for qualifying trainees or students for the duration of their courses. The after school child care programme provides after school care for primary school children for certain categories of working parents for one year. Last year it was enhanced in a number of ways, including by providing funding for a pick-up service at no extra cost to parents where providers were in a position to do so.
Community employment schemes often provide the first opportunity for parents to engage in the workforce. The community employment child care programme subsidises the cost of child care for participating parents. Following a number of enhancements, the programme now includes an after-school child care option at a weekly cost of €15 for parents of primary school children, as well as a part-time day care option for up to ten weeks during school holidays.
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has been working closely with the Department of Social Protection to ensure that these initiatives provide the maximum benefit to parents in an economy that is now delivering an increased number of work opportunities.
The current level of State investment in child care, at more than €250 million per year, is very substantial. To ensure that all the benefits of child care investments are fully realised, public investment in child care must be evidence-based and strategically co-ordinated.
In order to develop a coherent whole-of-government approach to child care investment, I have established an interdepartmental group to examine and develop options for future investment in child care, both in the early years and for children of school-going age. The work of the group will be informed by documented best practice and current policy commitments, and through consultation with relevant stakeholders.
On 31 March, an open policy debate was attended by 40 invited representatives including parents, child care providers, academics, child care committees, and non-governmental organisations. A range of views on future policy directions was put forward, and a number of options for future investment were examined and discussed. A report of the debate is currently being compiled and will be published in due course.
An online consultation process was also provided for stakeholders with an interest in the field, including policy-makers, practitioners, providers, advocates and academics, as well as one specifically for parents and guardians. Almost 400 submissions were made by stakeholders and nearly 1,000 submissions were made by parents and guardians. These submissions will feed into the deliberations of the interdepartmental group. I take this opportunity to thank all who made submissions for doing so.
I have asked the group to consider a wide range of options, which must be rigorously analysed and properly costed, to develop sensible solutions to the challenges families face, rather than an expensive shopping list of "like to haves". I have asked that the final report of the group be submitted to me by the summer - next month in fact - to inform Government deliberations on this important area.
I thank the Minister for his response. The crux of the matter is that our child care costs are among the most expensive in the world; we are up there with the US. It costs €2,000 per month for two children in a crèche, which is a shocking indictment.
We are told that the country is in a better position financially and that there is €500 million to €700 million to give out in the next budget. Is the Minister considering providing a tax credit to couples so that in particular talented women can remain in the workforce to help towards the cost of mortgage repayments, which is a second mortgage in the case of many families? It is costing the economy a considerable amount of money.
I previously quoted from the baby brain drain study which indicated that 3,000 new mothers leave the workforce annually which costs €68 million. We are depriving women of the opportunity to work and this could easily be remedied. I know that the country has been in a very bad place financially over the past ten years or so. We now have an opportunity to help families in the squeezed middle who are facing huge weekly costs. I hope the Minister can provide some hope for those people.
I thank the Deputy. People often speak about the Government spending 0.2% on children when compared with other OECD countries. However, in reality it is more than 0.4%, which is still lower than it should be, when we take into account the moneys spent elsewhere in education, social protection and now our commitment, on which I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, to give free GP care to all children under six.
This morning I launched a new initiative, called Better Start, which is to support early childhood care and education providers. It is a mentoring service with 30 highly qualified mentors who will visit and support providers with ongoing advice on how to improve quality and care in the work they do. I welcome this as an initiative that will support people as they continue their professional development through life, which is something we need to do in all areas. It has existed for years for doctors and nurses.
The cost of child care is like a second mortgage and the Government has acknowledged that many families are struggling. That is why this group was established. It is not to come up with a wish list but to come up with properly analysed evidence-based options from which the Government can choose. They need to be properly costed so that we can start a process to address this. I favour giving parents a choice and affording Government the opportunity to have an input into standards and quality of the placements available, much as the ECCE programme works now.
We need more investment in child care and I will strongly fight for that. The Deputy compared the costs here with those in the United States. It is not that they are out of kilter per se, but the issue is our ability to subsidise care costs and we need to address that.
Refugee Data
Hundreds of thousands are trying to get across the Mediterranean, not because they are chasing wonderful welfare benefits in Europe, but because their lives have been destroyed in the countries from which they have come. Sadly we do not seem to have a problem with the US using Shannon Airport as a military base to cause severe destruction in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. We have refused to call Israel to account in Palestine. Of the refugees in the world today 5 million are Palestinian, 4 million are Syrian, 2.9 million are Afghans and 1.8 million are Iraqis.
There are serious issues at stake. Obviously those who have the gold make the rules. Even though the riches might be unequally divided, Europe and the US are rich in no small part because other places are poor. The developed world has much to answer for in that regard.
I welcome Ireland's decision to take in approximately 300 refugees; it is a small start. Given that they have been sanctioned by the UN as worthy of protection, will they go into direct provision or will be they given proper facilities to participate in Irish society and look for work?
I know there is a second stage to this and there is an effort to redistribute many of the refugees who have already arrived in Europe, mainly in Italy and Greece at the moment. Will the Government take a positive approach to this and seek to take in some in some of these people when they come to be redistributed in a few weeks' time?
An EU Foreign Ministers' meeting on Monday will consider a proposal to launch some military missions on Libya to attack the boats that could carry potential migrants across the sea. When our Minister goes there on Monday I urge him to advocate that this would be sheer lunacy. Most of these people are fishermen. The boats are involved in fishing. They get bought up overnight to carry migrants the next day at a high price. The idea of bombing them is crazy. We should never have agreed to the bombing of Libya in the first place. NATO has destroyed the place. The idea of another military adventure into Libya makes no sense. I advocate that the Government refuse to sign up to such an idea.
I welcome that we are taking 300 refugees; I am sorry it is not more. I hope the Minister and the Government will proactively consider and argue that we should take more when the EU moves to deal with these tens of thousands of people who are incarcerated in holding centres, particularly in Greece and Italy.
The real issue is what condition those people will be in when they come to Ireland.
Are we going to treat them as citizens with respect and dignity or will they be thrown into direct provision centres with others who have desperately sought asylum here?
We have looked at this debate the wrong way around because it is not about charity or our being nice. Refugees do not want sympathy or tears; they want us to stop facilitating the reasons that made them refugees in the first place. Unless we address these issues, we will be faced with this crisis for years to come.
A report published at the end of April by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reveals that the World Bank displaced a staggering 3.4 million people in the past five years. By funding privatisations, land grabs and dams, by backing companies and governments accused of rape, murder and torture, and by putting $50 billion into projects graded highest risk for irreversible and unprecedented social impacts, the World Bank has massively contributed to the flow of impoverished people across the globe. If we are serious about stopping and assisting people, the first thing we could do is start dealing with the World Bank, IMF and other research institutions. The second thing we could do is stop being complicit and backing NATO and US imperialists in bombing the Middle East, particularly Libya and Syria. This has generated the beginnings of Isis. A key reason a flood of refugees and immigrants are desperately seeking a future in Europe is that the United States and NATO have destroyed their countries, families and livelihoods. It is not about charity or about our being nice; it is about us making amends in some way for activities in which we are complicit by allowing Shannon Airport to be used.
I thank the Deputies for raising today Ireland's decision to resettle refugees as part of the EU resettlement programme. I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, who regrets she is unable to be present for the debate due to previous official commitments. I will, of course, bring the views of the Deputies to her attention and that of the other relevant Ministers before the meeting next week. I will ensure the transcript of the debate is read.
Ireland has participated in a UN-led resettlement programme since 2000. This programme is co-ordinated by the office for the promotion of migrant integration in the Department of Justice and Equality. Prior to Ireland's participation in this UN programme, Ireland had offered resettlement to groups of refugees, including Hungarians, Chileans, Vietnamese, Bosnians and Kosovars, since the 1950s.
Since the beginning of the UNHCR-led resettlement programme in 2000, 1,198 vulnerable persons from 27 different countries of origin have been resettled here. In general, the refugees resettled in Ireland come from Africa or Asia. The largest communities are from countries such as Burma, Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Syria. Ireland is working closely with the UNHCR to respond to the plight of the most vulnerable persons displaced by these conflicts and has played its part in the international community resettlement effort and will continue to do so in the context of the EU response to the Mediterranean refugee crisis.
The total number of persons displaced by the Syrian conflict admitted to Ireland under the resettlement programme from 2013 to date is 138. This includes 31 Afghans and four Iraqi Palestinians admitted from Damascus in 2013, 90 Syrian refugees admitted from Jordan and Lebanon in 2014 and 13 Syrian refugees who arrived from Jordan in April 2015. Prior to yesterday's announcement, the Minister had already committed to resettling 100 refugees in 2015 and 120 refugees in 2016. The focus was on refugees caught up in the conflict in the Middle East, notably Iraq and Syria, including a number of refugees who have urgent medical needs.
The EU agenda on migration, published yesterday, includes specific proposals on the resettlement of migrants in Europe under which Ireland was expected to receive 272 people by the end of 2016. Rather than waiting until the Commission's proposals are discussed formally by home affairs Ministers in June, the Minister announced yesterday that the Government has agreed in principle to resettle an additional 300 vulnerable people as our contribution to this European initiative. In addition, Ireland has operated a Syrian humanitarian application programme under which 114 people arrived in Ireland this year to join family already here.
It is good that Ireland is taking in some people. It has been one of the better countries at providing aid in some crises in which people are suffering badly. Rather than just examining the symptoms and trying to help in whatever way we can, it is surely time that we took on board the serious causes of the serious crises around the globe. As I stated before, the migrants did not just appear out of thin air.
Militarisation of much of the Middle East and other parts of the world has a lot to do with the efforts of so many hundreds of thousands of migrants to get across the Mediterranean. We need to take this on board. I appeal to the Government to think again about the fact that we allow arms and munitions to come through Shannon Airport. This helps to cause so much of the misery. War is responsible for a considerable proportion of the displacement. Ireland could play a very positive role by standing up and saying no country, including the United States, should be allowed to bring any arms and munitions or troops through Ireland to any war front because war does not create peace, it creates destruction. I appeal to the Government to take a fresh look at how we are allowing Shannon Airport to be used.
We must stand back and consider the horrendous circumstances that force individuals and families to make the treacherous journey to try to seek a better life in Europe. It does not bear thinking about. People give up their life savings and essentially entrust their children to pirates who put them on a ship that they know has a good chance of not making it to the other side. It is beyond belief.
In that context, I am very glad the Government is resettling people but I am sorry more people are not being resettled. I hope more from the next batch will be resettled. However, the key issue here is not about resettling refugees. It should be about preventing them from being turned into refugees in the first place. People are being driven from their own countries where their families are and in which they speak their own language. They are left with no future where they should be living, surrounded by the people and life circumstances that they know best. Does the Minister of State believe they really want to come here? Their migration is because of economic pillaging or military devastation. I echo the point that we are complicit in this by allowing Shannon Airport to be part of this process. There is no doubt in my mind that the US military that have transited through Shannon Airport and engaged in activities such as those in Syria and Libya are partly the reason so many people are now ending up in this devastating situation.
I thank the Deputies for raising the resettlement programme and many other issues, including that of Shannon Airport. The Deputies have debated Shannon here on numerous occasions with various Ministers, most recently with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charlie Flanagan. I will ask these Ministers to review today's discussion to feed into the debate.
The Deputies are correct that the Irish Government does have a role in prevention. Ireland is involved in a number of initiatives at European level to try to prevent the displacement of people. It is not just about helping out when circumstances reach crisis point but about arriving at long-term solutions. We are involved in discussions on this. There are many initiatives in this regard throughout Europe.
The commitment to resettle an additional 300 vulnerable people, announced yesterday, is part of the wider Government contribution to the crisis in the Mediterranean. It includes sending a naval vessel to the region to engage in search and rescue. Violence, conflict and instability have a horrendous impact on civilian populations. As the Deputies stated, families are faced with repeated displacement due to conflict and have very limited access to basic services. Ireland will continue to assist people affected by conflict and persecution. This year, it will provide nearly €80 million in funding to support communities affected by humanitarian crises, including in Syria, Yemen, northern Nigeria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and other conflict-affected areas. The EU Commission proposals published yesterday are comprehensive and cover a number of issues that require detailed answers before the European Council meeting in June.
The Minister for Justice and Equality has previously expressed her horror and outrage at the tragic loss of life in the Mediterranean Sea. She has consistently said that the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Mediterranean is an EU issue that requires a co-ordinated EU response and that Ireland will play its part in that. This is what the Deputies are calling for.
The Dáil adjourned at 3.20 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 19 May 2015.