Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020
58. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the plans in place to assist refugees and in particular children affected by the fire in the Moria refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31098/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland strongly supports the principle of solidarity and recognises that assistance is required for Member States who face a disproportionate number of applicants and particularly where incidences such as that which occurred in the Moria camp in Lesbos can cause additional hardship.
I committed in September to working with Tusla and colleagues across Government to relocating four unaccompanied minors from Greece into the care of Tusla. My officials are working with Tusla to accelerate the arrival of additional unaccompanied refugee children from the Moria Camp. I am pleased to have secured additional resources and funding in Budget 2021 to further fulfil our overall commitment in this regard.
Tusla was allocated an additional €61M in Budget 2021. A portion of these additional resources will support Tusla to meet our commitments to transfer additional unaccompanied minors in Greece to Ireland as quickly as possible. I am confident that we will be in a position to fully achieve our existing commitment and the additional resources provided in Budget 2021 will make sure such transfers can take place on a consistent and sustainable basis.
Tusla has a dedicated Separated Children Seeking Asylum (SCSA) Team, which has developed expertise through Ireland’s participation in international protection programmes, and through caring for unaccompanied minors who arrive unannounced at Irish ports.
Tusla currently has 59 unaccompanied children in care, all of whom come from various international protection contexts, including specific programmes and separated children seeking asylum. In addition at the end of Q1 2020 96 young people, who had previously been unaccompanied children, were in receipt of an aftercare service from Tusla. Seventy nine were in education or accredited training.
My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Helen Mc Entee T.D., recently announced an additional commitment under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) to welcome up to 50 people in family groups from Greece following the recent fire that almost completely destroyed the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos. This area of work transferred to my Department on 14 October 2020 and my department will now make the necessary arrangements to receive these families.
The families who will arrive from Greece have already been granted an international protection status by the Greek authorities. The International Protection Office (IPO) in the Department of Justice will grant them ‘programme refugee’ status immediately upon their arrival in Ireland. My officials are liaising with the European Commission on the detail of this commitment, and along with members of An Garda Síochána will travel to Greece in the coming weeks to make the arrangements for their safe passage to Ireland.
The Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established in 2015 in response to the migration crisis in central and southern Europe. 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 this first phase of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP). Most of the remaining people will arrive under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme Humanitarian Admissions Programme (IHAP).
Last December, a second phase of the IRPP 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 refugees who are due to arrive from Greece are in addition to this number.
