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

We have the freedom to use the funding for many of the issues referred to by the Deputy. People in direct provision are, in the main, asylum seekers and are a different group of people from the ones we bring in from Lebanon, Greece or Italy, who are refugees when they arrive here or become refugees shortly after they arrive. Resettlement takes place of people we bring in from Lebanon while it is relocation when they come from Greece. I can go through the pledges so far. Various Government decisions have been made and the total resettlement pledge is 1,985 up to 2019. There may be a further request during the year, which we will examine at that time.

The number I gave in reply to the parliamentary question on housing was correct. I visited some Syrians in Donegal two weeks ago who were being rehoused and they are happy with how they are being rehoused. They also have a settlement worker who stays with them for 18 months and assists then with the reintegration process. Learning English is a major issue and, while children learn English quickly, adults, especially men, find it more difficult and challenging. The resettlement workers help them and there are classes in the ETBs in 19 counties. The housing programme is going well in respect of the programme refugees and the people we bring in from Greece. It is great to see people in homes settling down and getting involved in the community. The community put on a welcome celebration for Syrians housed in Drumshanbo and it was great to see this welcome and the support they gave to them.

We are commencing another programme which has been active in Canada and the UK for a number of years and involves private community sponsorship. The community decides to take a family and comes together under faith groups or community organisations. They locate a house, equip it and do it up and they support the family when they arrive. I went to Manchester and London to see this in action and I met the people involved who said they had never in their lives been involved in something that gave them more satisfaction. When the families came in it was great to see the children running up onto the laps of their new grannies and to see the bonds that had been created. I am anxious to pursue that here as another method of welcoming and integrating refugees in Ireland. When they get off the plane, they go directly to the community without any reception in between. If Deputies and Senators wanted to promote this in their own communities, I would be interested in working with them and supporting this.