Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That work is under way. It is very specialised work for the reasons the Deputy outlined. I understand the Minister is anxious to get somebody who is an outstanding international expert but who also has experience of the Irish construction sector. I understand this has been achieved in the person appointed so the work of the panel has commenced.

With regard to the international protection Bill, beidh an Bille sin os comhair an Tí an bhliain seo. With regard to asylum seekers or refugees coming in the context of the current European crisis, the Deputy may be aware that people will come into orientation and reception centres where they will be identified. Any assistance, including medical assistance, will be given and identified if necessary, and fingerprinting and identification for various purposes will be done. This period should be relatively short because the people will be coming via a European Commission-led programme. Other people have already come from Syria via the UNHCR programme. I was the author of Ireland's first Refugee Act, when I was Minister of State with responsibility for development. I cannot say exactly how long the reception and orientation period will be, but in the case of people coming from places like Bosnia, it was up to six months. This was the last significant group of refugees that we took in on an arranged basis. We have organisations such as the Red Cross, local organisations, parishes and the faith communities offering very strong assistance to people in this particular case. All of this will, as far as possible, be utilised.

We also want to emphasise, in order to help people integrate, that once those coming to Ireland have undergone reception and orientation, we would like to assist them, particularly with English language skills. In my long experience of dealing with this area, the key point for success in integration is language, as it allows people to get a job. My understanding is that people are generally interested in getting employment but much of it is dependent on having a working knowledge of the local language. Fairly advanced arrangements are in place at Government level, but the discussions involving the European Commission about the arrangements are still ongoing. That is what we are aware of at the moment.

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