Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 105, 115, 118 and 119 together.

In response to the crisis in Afghanistan, my Department, through the IRPP, has made approximately 400 refugee places available for humanitarian places from Afghanistan.

Since August, 189 Afghan nationals from 49 families have entered Ireland from Afghanistan under the IRPP of whom 76 are aged under 18 years. Further arrivals are expected over the coming weeks. A further 13 Afghan nationals, or three families, arrived in Ireland in September on foot of Ireland's pledge to relocate refugee families from Greece following the fires in the Moria camp on Lesbos. The cohort relocating from Greece also included 39 Syrian refugees, comprising eight families.

My Department has co-operated with a wide range of organisations, including Amnesty International, the Irish Refugee Council, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to identify individuals and families whom we could welcome to Ireland under the Irish refugee protection programme. We have prioritised human rights defenders, people who have been supporting women's organisations, members of the LGBTI+ community, journalists and those who are most at risk from the Taliban takeover.

While responding to the needs emerging from the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, we continue to meet our existing international humanitarian obligations, particularly in continuing to bring Syrian refugees from camps in Lebanon and Jordan to Ireland. I am pleased to report that the IRPP recently undertook and completed a mission to Lebanon, interviewing over 260 individuals with a view to providing them with refugee status here in Ireland. A further selection mission for Syrian refugees in Jordan will take place next month. The IRPP aims to transfer selected refugees from both missions to Ireland as soon as possible.

The IRPP supports are normally intensive in nature because of the vulnerability of many programme refugees. Programme refugees qualify for housing provided by local authorities or through community sponsorship groups. They also have access to intensive English language supports provided by the education and training boards across the country. Conscious of the dangers experienced by many Afghans, the IRPP has sought to respond innovatively to this crisis, including by seeking support from potential refugee sponsors and civil society organisations to enable it to maximise the number of places available on its programme for Afghan nationals.

It is expected that not all arrivals from Afghanistan will need the supports normally extended to refugee families, such as language classes and orientation. Refugees will be assisted to access services such as education and health services by the IRPP. The provision of assistance with travel to Ireland is being examined, where required. Accommodation is being sourced through a range of initiatives including, but not limited to, public pledges and community sponsorship. This is intended to ensure that we do not place additional pressure on local authorities' housing resources, where possible, and to enable Afghan refugees to be admitted as programme refugees and to have access to employment at an early stage.

I particularly recognise the community sponsorship model that has been used and implemented by many groups across the country. Under Community Sponsorship Ireland, a trained group of people in a community come together and commit to supporting a refugee family with education, employment, medical supports and housing for a period of up 18 months after a family arrives in Ireland. This helps to prepare refugee families for a new and independent life in Ireland. It has been absolutely crucial in integrating families who have experienced absolutely incredible fear and terror in initially leaving their home countries before possibly spending many years living in incredibly precarious circumstances in a refugee camp. These community sponsorship groups are helping to integrate these families into their local communities. It is a really selfless act. My Department continues to support these groups. As I said when speaking on Afghanistan earlier this week, if any Deputies know people in their own constituency who are interested in setting up a community sponsorship group, I ask them to please get in touch so that we can provide them with all of the relevant information.

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