I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As the Deputy knows, the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established by Government Decision on 10 September 2015 as a direct response to the migration crisis that had developed on the southern shores of the European Union. Under this decision a programme office was established in my Department to oversee the operational aspects of the programme, which aims to bring in 4,000 vulnerable migrants to Ireland under two different mechanisms, refugee resettlement - operated by the Office for Promotion of Migrant Integration (OPMI) - and asylum seeker relocation.
The IRPP deals with all aspects of a migrant's life from the moment they are selected for relocation or resettlement to their transportation to Ireland and eventual settlement in the communities around the state. As the Deputy is aware, a number of persons are being accommodated in the Emergency Reception and Orientation Centre (EROC) located in Mosney Accommodation Centre under the relocation strand of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).
The services being provided to families include education, the services of a General Practitioner, HSE medical screening, and access to the services of the Department of Social Protection. A core part of the job of the IRPP is coordination and ensuring appropriate service delivery.
The relevant services are provided locally or in some cases are provided at the centre. The mode of service provision is determined on a case by case basis depending on the local situation and the individual circumstances of the asylum seekers.
Every effort is made to mainstream services with local populations while not impacting on the delivery of local services. Thus children in Mosney attend local schools and adults are provided with English language classes by the local ETB.
The provision of English language supports comes under the remit of the Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB). It is important to note that when engaging with persons seeking English language supports, that in the first instance, all applicants once facilitated in the application process by trained front line LMETB staff, are then individually assessed, so as to identify the nature/extent, if any of their current language levels in English. This would encompass both written and spoken English. Once levels have been established, a review is conducted to establish the cultural/ethnic backgrounds from which applicants are coming.
This information, alongside the established levels, enables the LMETB to place applicants in small but reasonably cohesive groups of similar level. The Deputy may be aware and it is important to note that, alongside presenting with little or no English language proficiency, significant numbers of learners in this category also present with no/little literacy capability in their mother tongue, thus the level of difficulty in tutoring is somewhat compounded by lack of awareness of basic alphabet in either mother tongue or English language.
Based upon many years of experience working with this client group, LMETB management have established through analysis of data that the intensive English classes being provided are not on their own enough to build proficiency levels with any type of speed. To address this, LMETB introduced a pilot scheme two years ago requiring all adults attending English language classes to also attend parallel conversational classes, and this has significantly improved the language ability of adults attending ESOL programmes in centres.
It should be noted that the provision of English language classes in the Mosney centre is conducted in partnership with the management authorities of the centre and with whom LMETB meet regularly to plan for and discuss the nature and type of provision /facilities to be provided on site in the Mosney centre.
The timing of the arrivals played a huge part in the planning and delivery. The first three groups were assessed and placed in classes within a week. The classes were assigned two three hour sessions per week. However, a group who arrived in to Mosney in November which translated into two class groups were assessed on 28 November. It was agreed that they would do conversational English with the Mosney Support team up to Christmas and then commence their classes in January due to the fact that the term had only two weeks left before Christmas.
A further group of 131 people (which translated into 8 class groups) arrived into Ireland on 16 December and were assessed by LMETB on 9 January. Due to the large volume of learners and the timing (Christmas/New Year period) it was not possible for the LMETB to recruit new tutors at such short notice. Officials of the IRPP discussed this with the LMETB and it was agreed that in order to ensure that everyone got some level of English tuition, the classes would be offered three hours per week temporarily until new tutors were put in place.
A group who arrived into Mosney in November, which was due to begin classes in January did not attend at all, despite a tutor being available to teach them.
The LMETB offered to change the timetable to facilitate anyone who could not attend during the daytime. One of the classes for the most recently arrived group is currently running on Wednesday evening. LMETBs on-site coordinator of services has sent out written reminders, has contacted Mosney staff to assist and has now arranged with IRPP officials to have an interpreter to help facilitate a meeting with those who have not attended to ascertain why they have not attended.
My officials have informed me that the LMETB is currently recruiting ESOL tutors both within and outside of the organisation to address the needs of both the Refugee and Asylum Seeker population within Mosney. As well as providing similar supports to those within the community, the LMETB Adult Literacy Service (ALS) runs adult learning classes for both asylum seekers and refugees in the Education Centre in the Mosney Reception Centre. The Adult Literacy Service liaises through the Mosney Inter-agency Committee with a number of agencies who support the residents of Mosney.
In relation to the Refugee Resettlement Programme, ALS provides English language training and orientation training for incoming refugees while resident in Mosney. LMETB ALS liaises specifically with the Irish Refugee Protection Programme and other local agencies to ensure that the transition process for those people who have fled war torn countries is managed smoothly and humanely.
All of the learners are assessed and their levels are mapped to the QQI levels and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages. CEFR is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe. Courses are offered at beginner A0 level to A2 QQI L3.
An orientation programme is being run to accompany the language training programme and it covers a range of areas including essential Information that groups of families would need, Geography, Childcare and Safety, Children’s Safety, Road Safety, Common Sign in Ireland, The Law in Ireland, Appropriate Dress, Food and Hygiene, Money Management and Services, Accommodation and Transport, Education and a module on moving towards independence.
The Deputy may also wish to note that the persons who are accommodated in the EROCs in both Monasterevin and Clonea Strand are programme refugees who arrive in Ireland with refugee status. By contrast, the persons accommodated in the EROC located in Mosney (and Ballaghaderreen in the near future) are asylum seekers who are relocated from Greece under the two EU Council decisions dealing with relocation. They therefore do not arrive in Ireland with refugee status but as asylum seekers whose claim for asylum has yet to be determined. There are therefore some differences in the processes that must be gone through in relation to these two groups. However, it is my view and that of the officials within the IRPP that there should be a broadly identical approach taken to language provision as between the two different groups and that is something we will be working towards, in conjunction with the relevant ETBs, over the coming weeks.
Finally, I wish to inform the Deputy that it is intended to start settling the earliest cohort of relocated persons currently in Mosney, a small number of whom arrived in Ireland in June, in the community in the coming weeks.
