Ms Sophie Magennis:

With regard to Ireland's figures, there is a Government decision in place that was adopted in 2005 and that provided for a quota of 200 people coming to Ireland each year. That quota was pretty much met in 2007 and 2008 but, with a possible link to the financial crisis, the numbers dropped after that. Page 3 of the briefing document lists the numbers from 2010, which were relatively small but growing slowly. We now have a commitment to take 100 people this year, 120 next year and an additional commitment to take 300 people; that is the new commitment on the table.

We welcome this and we hope all those places will be filled. We already have progressed and Ireland undertakes selection missions to assist in the selection of people who are going to come. We have already started the arrangements for that and we hope one of those missions will take place this year. We hope refugees will be able to come in relatively quickly and we might be able to see if there can be additional capacity before the end of 2016 for more refugees. We welcome the trend but we are always trying to see if we can get some additional places.

I should also mention that it is not just about numbers when it comes to Ireland. The Irish authorities like to take in particularly vulnerable cases, so Ireland will typically take in approximately five medical cases every year, which would involve somebody with a very serious health issue. The Irish authorities have also taken in female-headed households, where people might be particularly vulnerable to sexual and other forms of gender-based violence where they are. The importance of the focus on vulnerability is also very important.

In term of potential at the EU level, the mandatory nature of the increase in the resettlement numbers was on the table in the European Commission paper. On 13 May, the European Commission published the European agenda on migration and in that the Commission proposed that Article 78 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be used to oblige people to take refugees on resettlement and asylum seekers on relocation, using a mechanism in the treaty that can bind member states by qualified majority at the Council - not by consensus - to undertake certain measures. That was a relatively new measure. As I am sure we all know, Ireland is not obliged to take part in any measures under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European, TFEU, as Ireland, the UK and Denmark have a general opt-out on measures relating to asylum and immigration. However, it would be open to the Irish State to decide to opt into that measure and thereby bind itself.

There has been much discussion on this measure by European member states, and some have come out firmly in favour of the use of Article 78 of the treaty binding members to take numbers. Some have come out against it and others are, as yet, unpronounced. The European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels today to discuss some of these issues. We have fully supported the European Commission proposals and the principle is important. A distribution key has been developed and is annexed to the document produced by the Commission. It takes account of a range of factors, such as the proportion of asylum seekers and refugees per capitaof a country and other measures taken by a state in a relocation or resettlement process and so on. With regard to the distribution key, a figure of 272 was indicated to Ireland, and Ireland has already indicated that it will go beyond that and take 300. The numbers have been accepted but the principle is really important. It would send a massive signal if a state that is not obliged to do so would take the positive step of seeking to bind itself. We will see what will be the outcome.