Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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114. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on Ireland accepting more refugees from the conflict in Syria and to follow in the footsteps of other European countries by making a meaningful contribution to the victims of war, allowing them to enter Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47536/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Under the national asylum procedure, the majority of Syrians who have applied for asylum in Ireland since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011 and whose applications have since been determined, have been declared to be refugees. A total of 86 such applications have been received in the State in the period March 2011 to end November 2014.

In light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria, the Government committed this year to accept 90 persons displaced by the Syrian conflict under the UNHCR led resettlement programme. This will include four serious medical cases whose medical needs cannot be met except through resettlement. I have subsequently responded to a call for increased resettlement places by making 100 places available under the programme in 2015 and a further 120 places in 2016. The majority of these additional places will be dedicated to the resettlement of refugees displaced by the Syrian conflict.

Earlier this week I announced that 111 vulnerable people have been granted permission to reside in Ireland resulting from the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAP). The SHAP was introduced following an approach by members of the Syrian community in Ireland and focuses on offering temporary Irish residence to vulnerable persons present in Syria, or who have fled from Syria to surrounding countries since the outbreak of the conflict in March 2011, and who have close family members residing in Ireland.

The Programme provided for naturalised Irish citizens of Syrian birth and Syrian nationals already lawfully resident in the State to make an application for vulnerable close family members to join them in Ireland for up to two years. These are persons who are considered by their sponsoring family member present in Ireland to be most at risk. Persons admitted under the Programme will be entitled to work, establish a business, or invest in the State. A key condition of the Programme is that these persons should not become a burden on the State.

This Programme is an additional initiative in response to the crisis in Syria and is without prejudice to other avenues whereby Syrian nationals might lawfully enter the State, such as family reunification for the family members of refugees and persons with subsidiary protection, and the aforementioned UNHCR resettlement programme.