Ms Oonagh Buckley:

I thank the Senator. It might be worth saying, in particular in light of the incident yesterday in the English Channel, that Ireland has been relatively unusual in that we have consistently accepted people from search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea. We can only take small numbers because we are limited by the accommodation we can provide in the direct provision system. We consistently take small numbers. As the Senator pointed out, we are consistently one of the countries that seeks to help to relieve some of the burden from the front facing countries, including Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus and Greece, all of which take in large numbers of refugees. We try to help, although Ireland has consistently argued for the adoption of an EU-wide migration policy so that we can deal with these issues collectively as a European Union. We would be involved in the delicate negotiations around such an EU package of measures.

My colleagues in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth largely have responsibility for the direct provision system and its welcome reform. They also have responsibility for integration matters. I am smiling because while I am sure they could do with more money, I am not sure I would earn any credits in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for asking for that.

Substantial funding is available from the EU, and that is regularly tapped by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. That support assists us very greatly in integration efforts. Through that, a substantial number of NGOs and other groups are funded to help with the integration efforts. It is important for Ireland's future because Ireland's future is one of a multicultural society. Its present is a multicultural society and we have to make sure that people of all cultures are included as securely as possible.

Often the first interaction with an Irish Government agency that somebody coming from abroad will have will be with our services. We need to make them as good, decent and responsive as possible. In doing that, it is to be hoped that people's first experience with the Irish government system is a good one and will help them to start building trust.

One of the impacts of distrust in government in the context of the Covid pandemic has been people from migrant communities being more reluctant to get vaccinated. That has an impact.

We have worked closely with our colleagues in the HSE to try to use our systems so the HSE can access those migrants who might not otherwise be reached through the standard processes used by Irish nationals who listen to the media and so forth. We have worked closely with it to try to help improve the take-up of vaccines among migrant communities. We have done so by consistently stating that undocumented migrants need have no fear that by coming forward to be vaccinated they will in any way expose themselves to action by the immigration authorities. We have consistently stated that we want people to come forward for their vaccinations and they do not need to worry that their details will be reported onto us.