Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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54. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will bring unaccompanied children here as part of the Irish refugee protection programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17110/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established by Government decision on 10 September 2015 as a direct response to the humanitarian crisis that developed in Southern Europe as a consequence of mass migration from areas of conflict in the Middle East and Africa. In announcing the Programme, the Government assigned special priority to the plight of unaccompanied children. However, as has been widely reported, the pace of the relocation programme in Ireland and across the European Union has been hampered by significant operational delays and technical issues due to the sheer numbers involved and other logistical difficulties that have arisen at migration hotspots.

A team of officials from my Department, including the Director of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, travelled to Greece earlier this month to meet with Irish embassy officials and relevant Greek authorities both to signal Ireland's tangible willingness to assist and to identify ways of addressing the obstacles that have arisen. The outcome of that visit has been very positive and the Greek authorities have now confirmed that, within the coming months, they will be able to increase significantly the numbers available to Ireland. In making this commitment, the Greek authorities also signalled that they will be in a position to include small numbers of unaccompanied minors among the groups being allocated. This will greatly facilitate Ireland’s efforts to meet the targets foreseen in last September's Government decision and fulfil our commitment to prioritise unaccompanied minors.

In the wake of these developments, discussions regarding the practical arrangements for taking unaccompanied minors into the State via the relocation mechanism have intensified between senior officials of my Department and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Tusla, which operates under the auspices of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, has statutory responsibility for the care of unaccompanied minors in the State and is represented on the cross-departmental Taskforce established by Government to oversee implementation of the IRPP. I look forward to their input on this important issue at the next meeting of the Taskforce which takes place on 27th June.