Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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329. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the current and expected residency status of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41632/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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If the persons whose details were supplied has made an application for asylum or subsidiary protection in the State, the Deputy will be aware that it is not the practice to comment on such applications until they have fully completed the protection process.

With regard to residency status, the Deputy is reminded that protection applicants are issued with a temporary residence permission pending a final decision on their application. In the event that an applicant is finally determined not to be in need of protection, consideration is then given to whether the person should be granted leave to remain in the State on humanitarian grounds.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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330. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will renew and extend the previous Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme established 14 March 2014. [41635/15]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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336. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if a Syrian national who entered Ireland under the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme in 2015 is eligible to sponsor a visa application for immediate family members who remain in Syria; given the humanitarian crisis, her plans to award visa applications to vulnerable Syrian family members of Syrians who are Irish citizens and who live here, particularly where families are trapped in war-torn areas. [41651/15]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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337. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons registered and issued with immigration stamps under the last Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme. [41652/15]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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338. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of visas issued to date to those granted residence permission under the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme. [41653/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 330 and 336 to 338, inclusive, together.

The Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAP) offered naturalised Irish citizens of Syrian birth and Syrian nationals already legally resident in Ireland an opportunity to make an application for vulnerable close family members to join them in Ireland for up to two years under a sponsorship programme. These were persons who were considered by their sponsoring family member present in Ireland to be most at risk. 116 beneficiaries were granted admission under the programme.

I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the SHAP immigration stamp has been endorsed on the passports of 78 persons granted temporary permission under the Programme and that 101 visas have issued to date to those granted temporary residence permission under the Programme.

It is open to Syrian nationals ordinarily resident in the State to apply for family reunification as provided for in S18 of the Refugee Act 1996, as amended, or under the Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification, which is available on the INIS website, www.inis.gov.ie.

I have no plans to renew this particular Programme. The Deputy will, however, be aware that, in response to the continuing migration crisis facing Europe, the Government has committed to accepting up to 4,000 persons overall under the EU Relocation and EU Resettlement programmes.

The EU Commission is currently finalising Ireland's contribution to the Relocation Programme which is indicated to be over 2,600. It is expected that this number will be augmented by further family reunifications. The timescales for Relocation are for a two year period with the first persons expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

I have established a Taskforce comprising of relevant Departments and agencies together with organisations including the UNHCR and the Red Cross to draw together the various strands of the programme. A Programme Office has been established in my Department to oversee the programme and a dedicated Relocation Unit has also been set-up in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner to process cases for refugee determination. Ireland has also appointed Liaison Officers to both Italy and Greece and has nominated two additional experts to the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) to support the work of the hotspots.

In addition, Ireland is committed to accepting persons to Ireland under the UNHCR led refugee resettlement programme. To date in 2015 under this programme 100 refugees displaced by the Syrian conflict have been admitted from Jordan and Lebanon. It is planned that 80 additional refugees will be admitted from Lebanon before Christmas with a further hundred refugees expected to be admitted to Ireland from Lebanon in the New Year. The remaining cases will be admitted on a gradually increasing phased basis thereafter.