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

I share the Deputy's concerns. From my direct engagement with members of the Afghan community living here in Ireland, I know that things are very bad in Afghanistan right now. The PR savvy approach we saw from the Taliban in the initial weeks is not reflected in life in the country. That is why, in providing for refugees, we have targeted those who are most vulnerable including women, people who support women, people who are in the LGBTI+ community and journalists.

The Deputy is absolutely right about Syria. We have a pre-existing commitment to bring 2,900 Syrian refugees to Ireland by 2025. As I have said, we accepted a group of 50 in September. They arrived in Ireland in mid-September. We had a mission in Beirut with a view to bringing over a further 260 refugees. We are sending a mission to Jordan next month to organise the next group.

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