David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to engage with the joint committee. I know at first hand the important contribution the committee makes to the development of policy on justice issues. If I or my office can assist the Chairman and his colleagues in the committee in any way with the work they are doing, they should feel free to call on us. Furthermore, I would very much welcome the views and suggestions of members of the committee on any of the aspects for which I have responsibility. I propose to focus this morning on the refugee crisis, as the Chairman has said.

It is clear the ongoing refugee and migration crisis has tested the European Union. It has tested our capacity as 28 individual member states to respond collectively with one voice and in a coherent way. It has exposed some harsh realities, among them that the seeds of xenophobia and isolationism have begun to grow in the rhetoric of far-right parties in some parliaments across the European Union and of some media outlets. These people preach a message of hate and intolerance towards refugees and migrants which is at odds with the very principles on which the European Union is founded. As we look forward to the 60th anniversary next year of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, I ask myself whether we can really call ourselves Europeans if we do not protect the shared values embedded in the treaties: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. These should be the basic tenets which underpin all we do.

I am very proud that the reaction to the crisis of all political parties across both Houses of the Oireachtas and people who are not in political parties has been proactively to seek ways in which we can help. By voluntarily opting into the two Council decisions on relocation, we sent an important message of solidarity both to our member state colleagues facing severe pressure and to vulnerable people fleeing persecution and conflict.

Our course of action has always been to respond in a humanitarian way and to prevent further loss of life where possible. One of the most tangible expressions of our support has been the heroic work undertaken by our Naval Service personnel in the Mediterranean, who have rescued more than 15,400 migrants since the first deployment of the LE Eithnein May 2015 under Operation Pontus. Some members of the committee may have seen the programme "The Crossing" on RTE last Monday night. It showed the crew of the LE Samuel Beckettin the Mediterranean undertaking vital search and rescue missions in extremely challenging circumstances. I express my gratitude, and I am sure the gratitude of all present here, to all Naval Service personnel, who have been a credit to our country and the work in the Mediterranean, and I commend them on receiving the European of the Year award earlier this week. I have met many of these Naval Service personnel. Their work has had an impact on them that they will never forget, but they have done Trojan work in the Mediterranean.

The Tánaiste and I will continue to work closely with our ministerial colleagues on all issues relating to the crisis and to make our commitments a reality. As the Chairman knows, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Children only this week travelled to Greece to see how we might expedite the relocation of people there to Ireland.

As all members of the committee are aware, the main vehicle meeting the Government's humanitarian commitments in this regard is the Irish refugee protection programme. The programme was established by Government decision in September 2015 with a view to bringing the implementation of our commitments under the EU relocation decisions and our EU refugee resettlement programme activities under a single programme.

There are two distinct sub-programmes, as it were. One is resettlement, which entails taking in refugees currently living in Lebanon. This is a long-standing programme in which Ireland selects refugees for resettlement with the assistance of the UNHCR. Under the resettlement programme, 519 of our original target of 520 refugees have already arrived in the State a full year ahead of the European deadline. Initially we were asked by the European Union to take in 272, but the Government has recently decided voluntarily to double this target to 520 to help us meet our commitment to bring 4,000 people to Ireland under the IRPP. The next 260 persons to arrive under the resettlement programme are expected to come in spring 2017. The Government last month approved the decision to take a further 260 persons under this strand. A selection mission will go to Lebanon next spring to select this additional group.

The second strand we operate is that of relocation. This is an EU programme which involves bringing asylum seekers currently located in Greece and Italy to Ireland. Those eligible for relocation must come from countries with a 75% or higher rate of recognition as these persons benefit from a fast-track process to determine whether they are refugees. While the early pace of the relocation programme was frustratingly slow, 239 people will have arrived in the State by the end of this week and a further 164 have been assessed and cleared for travel in the new year. Thereafter, a schedule has been agreed with Greece which will see approximately 1,100 persons relocated from there to Ireland from now until September 2017.

Efforts are continuing to resolve issues regarding security assessments which hampered relocations from Italy. I met and engaged bilaterally with the Italian officials recently to see whether we could resolve this issue. I am sure once a resolution is found, it will greatly enhance Ireland's ability to achieve its commitments under this programme.

As we all know, the work of the programme does not stop once migrants have arrived on Irish soil. The task of providing emergency accommodation, cultural orientation, long-term housing, medical care, school placements, language training and social protection supports is complex, highly resource-heavy and requires all arms of the State and voluntary sectors to co-operate closely. The Government has established a cross-departmental task force chaired by the Tánaiste which is co-ordinating the identification of refugee needs. Bodies involved include the Red Cross, the UNHCR, the HSE, Tusla, the Departments of Education and Skills and Social Protection and so on. This task force is working actively to meet the complex needs of the refugees such as those relating to housing.

The Dáil motion on the transfer of unaccompanied minors to Ireland who had previously been living in the camp in Calais reflects a strong interest across parties and Independents in helping young people affected by the migration and refugee crisis. Officials of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Justice and Equality have been linking with the Irish NGOs active in France and with the French and UK authorities on preparations for bringing unaccompanied minors in this situation to Ireland. The Tánaiste met the French Interior Minister about this issue on 9 December. In view of the capacity demands anticipated for Tusla, it is working to see how we can meet this need. It is anticipated the minors will come to Ireland on a phased basis.

At national level we have implemented the single biggest reform to our international protection process in the past 20 years. I am pleased to say that the International Protection Act 2015 will be commenced in full on 31 December and will introduce a single application procedure to our protection process. This is a significant step forward in modernising our asylum legislation from the current cumbersome, multi-layered and sequential procedure under the Refugee Act 1996 to a single application procedure whereby an applicant will have all grounds for seeking international protection and to be permitted to remain in the State examined and determined in one process. The Department has been engaged in intensive and detailed preparations over the past year to ensure all the necessary preparations are in place to allow all applications for national protection to be processed under the new single applications procedure starting from January.

I am conscious of the misery and suffering experienced by refugees fleeing war and conflict. The Government is working actively to play its part and help those coming to Ireland to rebuild their lives here. However, the scale of the crisis requires a global response. No one country can solve the problem unilaterally. This is why Ireland is also working at UN level to develop an international response to this crucial issue.