Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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44. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if data is available on costs of hosting students from developing countries in Ireland for 2013 and for subsequent years until 2015; if so, what are the figures in absolute numbers; and how much of this is included in the amount reported as overseas development assistance expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54600/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Ireland provides support to post- graduate students from developing countries through a number of initiatives under the Government’s development cooperation programme, which is managed by Irish Aid in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The primary initiative is the Fellowship Training Programme, the objective of which is to strengthen the capacity of partner organisations benefiting from Ireland’s support in our key partner countries. Fellowships are targeted at mid-career professionals who, on completion of the Programme, have committed to putting their acquired skills into practice for the benefit of the partner organisation and the wider community. Fellowship awards are also aligned to priorities and thematic areas identified in Ireland’s country strategy programmes in our key partner countries.

The fellowships are awarded annually to successful candidates from key partner countries (Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia), as well as Palestine, Timor Leste and Burundi for study in Ireland or within their own country or region. From 2014, applications for Fellowships will also be accepted from candidates in Sierra Leone.

Separately, Irish Aid fellowships have been awarded to successful post- graduate applicants from Vietnam under the Irish Development Experience Sharing Programme (IDEAS) and from South Africa under the Kadar Asmal Fellowship Programme. The IDEAS programme involves sharing experience of Ireland’s economic and social development with Vietnam in order to build the capacity of Vietnamese institutions engaged in economic and financial governance. The provision of fellowships for Vietnamese post-graduate students to study in Ireland is an integral component of the programme. The aim of the Kader Asmal Fellowship programme is to strengthen the capacity of partner organisations in South Africa to contribute to the reduction of poverty and vulnerability through economic development .

Each of these programmes is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in cooperation with our Embassies and a management agency, the Irish Council for International Students.

Under the budget for the aid programme, €1.52 million has been provided for the Fellowship Training Programme in 2013. This allocation is for the costs associated with fellowships awarded to study in Ireland or in the fellows’ own country or region. This figure also includes the management agency fees.

Costs of €970,750 will be incurred in 2013 under the Irish Development Experience Sharing Programme for Vietnam, and €63,897 under the Kader Asmal Programme for South Africa. All of this funding is counted towards the calculation of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance.

The precise allocations for fellowships for 2014 will be finalised in January and the budget for 2015 will be decided in the context of the annual budgetary process for that year.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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45. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the data available on the costs of housing refugees in Ireland in 2012; the figures in absolute numbers and in percentage of the total bilateral overseas development assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54601/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Matters relating to refugees in Ireland are coordinated by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) under the auspices of the Minister for Justice and Equality. Details of the services and supports available to refugees are published on the website of the linked Reception and Integration Agency. A number of other Government Departments also have responsibilities in this regard, including the Departments of Social Protection, Health and Children, Education and Skills and Foreign Affairs and Trade. Comprehensive information relating to the number of refugees in Ireland or the cost of providing housing for them is not available in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. However, every year the Department submits to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) details of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure in the previous year. In line with DAC and internationally-recognised reporting definitions and criteria, donors may include, as eligible ODA, certain expenditure relating to the maintenance of refugees during the first twelve months of their stay in the host country, most notably for the provision of food, shelter and training. Such costs for 2012, estimated at €101,000 by the Department of Justice and Equality, represented only a very small proportion of Ireland’s total ODA spend of €628 million that year. It should be noted that costs associated with the integration of refugees into the economy of the donor country, or resettlement within the donor country, are specifically excluded by the DAC from ODA eligibility.