Ms Fiona Finn:

We see many Syrians of Palestinian ethnic origin coming to Ireland. Some of the Palestinians living in Cork have been here for a long time. Since the conflict in Syria began, we have seen a number of Syrian Palestinians arrive, but they are in the minority. I agree, however, that it is a significant issue. In Greece and Italy there is an issue with registration and how the relocation process is working. The problem is supposed to have been sorted in Greece, but it is a Europe-wide issue. We have said we will take 2,000 refugees from Greece and Italy. There was an issue with how the Greek authorities were administrating the process and registering individuals. No funding or additional resources have been given to Greece where refugees are living in dire circumstances and want to move on, but they are getting stuck at the border. There is a problem in funding the process.

Ireland could be more proactive. We have been told that people do not want to come to here, but I find that hard to believe. If a family living in a camp on the Macedonian border were asked if they would like to have safe passage to Ireland, I think they would come. I question how proactive we are in identifying people in the field and bringing them to Ireland. The numbers relocating to other European countries have increased. As Deputy Mick Wallace highlighted, there is an underlying resistance to the relocation of Afghans. There is an underlying security concern that is beginning to come to the surface. There is a perception that older Afghan children pose a security risk. We refute this, but security concerns are influencing how we are responding to the crisis. That is my view based on some of the feedback we have been getting. It is much easier for us to get a positive decision for a female, particularly a female Christian, but males are more challenging and the majority of the decisions on young Muslim males are negative. It is never overt, but it is covert. That needs to be said and the issue needs to be tackled. We are working with a man who wishes to bring his two older brothers here, but he has more or less been told that security is the issue. This will not be stated in the letter of refusal, but we know that security is the issue. Both of his brothers are unmarried; one is in his 40s, while the other is in his 50s. They are both willing to undergo any security check required. They are willing to be held until it is established that they are not terrorists. If they had wanted to join a terrorist group, they could have done so before now, but that is a factor that is coming into play.