Ms Gráinne O'Hara:

Let me start with the questions posed by Deputy O'Brien. I will address the question on resettlement first. It is fundamentally important to bear one point in mind with resettlement. We are discussing a global refugee and displaced population which tops 60 million. Let us consider my region of the world specifically and repeat the figures for Syria - they are phenomenal. There are 4.8 million registered refugees. The number of refugees that will have access to resettlement will always be only a small proportion of the refugee population. For the Syria response in particular, the UNHCR hosted a high-level meeting on resettlement and other forms of humanitarian admissions in Geneva on 30 March last year.

The goal our High Commissioner was aiming for was 10% of the total figure of Syrian refugees, let us say, somewhere in the region of 400,000 to 500,000 from within the Syrian refugee population. A number of pledges were made at that meeting, including some new resettlement and admission pledges from countries that have not had a tradition of resettlement. The United Arab Emirates pledged 15,000 places over the course of five years, being a new potential resettlement partner.

As UNHCR, we are always looking to any resettlement country to increase the numbers. Indeed, the numbers for Ireland and for other members of the European Union are rather modest but not insignificant.

As for what we use resettlement for, it serves a number of purposes. In part, it is simply an expression of solidarity. It is sending the message to countries in the neighbouring region - the ones hosting the vast majority of refugees - that they are not alone and we are also willing to step up and admit refugees to our own territory. Through a selection process which allows to look at specific protection needs, even small numbers of resettlement places are significant.

Last year, recalling again that our High Commissioner had set the bar at this target of 400,000 out of the Syria crisis, out of the entire region of Middle East-north Africa we submitted 96,000 submissions for resettlement. Submissions differ from departures and arrivals because we are submitting in one calendar year and, of course, there is a time lag due to security clearance and other requirements. The 96,000 is the number we submitted from the region last year. The largest of the resettlement countries, the ones with the largest quotas, would be traditional resettlement partners, such as Canada, the US and Australia. That said, the quotas offered by countries, such as Ireland and the European Union, are significant. They are important to us. We are always lobbying for higher numbers but whatever is on offer we will use to the maximum for refugees.

In response to the question about different arrangements, specifically the Turkish-EU arrangement, that is something about which UNHCR expressed concern at the time. We continue to have concerns about bilateral and multilateral arrangements that affect the ability of refugees to gain access to safety. At the same time, a fundamental feature of what was happening out of Turkey at the time the deal was struck was these large movements of refugees by dangerous sea routes, something we see much less of now in the eastern Mediterranean but something we continue to see at quite significant levels in the central Mediterranean, particularly with Libya as a departure point. We have a fundamental concern about the safety of life at sea. We would encourage that any of these bilateral arrangements take account of that and take account of adequate measures that ensure refugees are not being unreasonably blocked or pushed back to situations of danger. That said, we understand the migration management motivations behind these specific arrangements that are being negotiated between states and we stand ready to discuss with states and offer our technical advice in order that whatever deals are struck are in the best interests of refugee protection. For us, the fundamental red line is the 1951 convention bar on non-refoulement, the forced removal to a situation of danger. That is something we would always be looking out for in these types of agreements.

On the question with respect to the situation of minorities, the minority populations in the region have suffered greatly. What has happened to the Yazidis with the flight of almost their entire population from the area around Sinjar in northern Iraq was something that garnered a lot of media attention. Many of these Yazidis continue to live in camps as internally displaced persons within Iraq and many of them are also displaced to countries in the region. For the refugee side of the minority response, the appeal that I referred to would include the needs of minority populations. It is important to underline that many of the minorities, be they Yazidis or Christians, remain, some of them still in their homes but some of them as internally displaced, both within Iraq and Syria, and those internal displacement situations are also in acute need of funding to be able to respond to specific needs of minorities who have suffered considerably.

In response to Deputy McLoughlin's question about how the finances break down, what we were launching in Finland is a response plan known as the regional refugee and resilience plan, 3RP. I have mentioned on several occasions the price tag of €4.63 billion that attaches to this plan. This is not the UNHCR's response alone. This covers the needs of all the participating UN organisations and as many as 240 other partners. That covers many of the non-governmental organisations, both international and local. It also refers to the needs of the hosting governments, especially in the areas, for example, of education and health services. It goes without saying that if there is such a large influx of refugees, for example, more than 1 million registered refugees in Lebanon, that will have an impact on health and education services. Most of the receiving states have pledged a full commitment to ensuring Syrian refugee children have access to education, but that costs money. A massive influx to a country's education system means funding is needed to increase classroom sizes, classroom numbers and the number of teachers on the payroll. Therefore, the appeal is broken down across sectors and it addresses education and health. I will not go into the details of it because it would probably be too tedious to go through each, but I can leave the committee a copy of the appeal which includes a detailed breakdown.

I cannot answer the Deputy's question as to how many Irish members of the rapid response corps have been deployed. I can only speak to those representatives of Irish NGOs that I see in the region. GOAL and Concern are fundamental partners in many aspects of the refugee response. Irish Aid is, in fact, quite a significant donor to the UNHCR, including in the office where I work in Amman, Jordan. I work out of our regional office in Amman and we have a staff member there who is supported by Irish Aid funding. Ireland is a significant partner to us and we are grateful for the support we have received.