Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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323. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the expenditure allocated to support Ireland's commitment to accept up to 4,000 persons under the European Union resettlement and relocation programmes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45769/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Government took a decision to establish the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) on 10 September 2015 as a direct response to the EU migrant crisis. Ireland has agreed to accept approximately 4,000 persons in total under resettlement and relocation programmes. The figure of 4,000 includes approximately 2,600 persons to be taken in from migration hotspots in Italy and Greece under the new EU programme and 520 programme refugees from camps in Lebanon and Jordan, which the Irish Government has committed to taking in by the end of 2016 under Ireland's Refugee Resettlement programme. The balance of the 4,000 will be taken in on a gradual basis up to the end of 2017.

Among the measures agreed under the programme was the establishment of a Network of Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres (EROCs) which will be used to provide emergency accommodation and meet the basic needs of the 4,000 people who are expected to arrive over the next two years. Also among the measures announced was the establishment of a cross-Departmental Taskforce, chaired by my Department, to coordinate and implement the logistical and operational aspects associated with the IRPP. This will include the delivery of emergency accommodation and orientation services in the first instance and facilitating the longer term integration needs of those with refugee status through the provision of a sustainable housing strategy, health services, education, social welfare, and social inclusion activities.

In terms of expenditure a number of financial measures have been put in place. As part of the original decision establishing the IRPP the Government announced a package of €6 million in the short term to help establish the necessary structures required to implement the programme. I have also secured €25 million under the 2016 estimates process to meet the costs associated with delivering the Programme, including the establishment of Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres, the provision of orientation and integration services and the provision of additional staff to work in the key bottleneck areas to target backlogs and speed up processing. The budget of the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration will also be increased next year by 89% to a total of €4.445 million) to allow for additional staffing and integration measures required to support the increased intake of programme refugees in 2016.

Finally, the Government has also acknowledged that there may be further costs associated with the delivery of mainstream services through Departments and State agencies such as the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, HSE, Tusla, etc. Any such costs will feed into an overall assessment which will form the basis of further discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.