Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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551. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a breakdown of the number of persons provided with resettlement as part of the Irish resettlement process for each year from 2009 to 2014 and in 2015 to date; and if the proposed 272 persons Ireland will accept under the mandatory European resettlement programme will have their status determined before arrival or will be required to apply for protection upon arrival here. [20851/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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On 13 May 2015, the European Commission, published an EU Agenda for Migration. The Agenda includes a number of proposals which will be considered by Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in June and subsequently by the European Council.

Among the measures proposed is the establishment of an EU-wide resettlement scheme to offer 20,000 resettlement places. The Commission proposes that the scheme will cover all Member States, with the numbers suggested for each Member State calculated according to distribution criteria such as GDP, size of population, unemployment rate and past numbers of asylum seekers and of resettled refugees. It also takes account of the efforts already made on a voluntary basis by Member States.

The Commission's calculation envisages Ireland accepting 272 persons for resettlement between now and the end of 2016. While plans were already in place for the resettlement of 220 persons in 2015/16, I, having consulted with colleagues, have announced the Government's intention to accept an additional 300 persons over and above that figure. A total of 520 refugees will therefore be admitted in 2015/2016.

All persons admitted to Ireland for resettlement are granted programme refugee status on arrival.

The total number of persons resettled in Ireland during the period of 2009-2015 is 471. A breakdown of the numbers admitted is provided below and is also available on www.integration.ie.