Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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46. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality given Ireland's commitment in September 2015 to take in 4,000 persons under the Irish refugee protection programme over a two year period, the number of refugees under this programme who have arrived to date; the specific steps which have been taken to ensure this commitment is met; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27426/16]

David Stanton (Cork East, 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.

Under the programme the Government has pledged to accept a total of 4,000 migrants into the State by the end of 2017, through a combination of the EU relocation mechanism established in 2015 to assist Italy and Greece (which Ireland voluntarily opted into) and the UNHCR-led refugee resettlement programme currently focused on resettling refugees from camps in Jordan and Lebanon.

Under the Resettlement part of the IRPP, 520 programme refugees are to be resettled in Ireland by 31 December 2016. As of yesterday, 486 of these 520 have been admitted to the State. Sufficient cases were selected during a selection mission to Lebanon earlier this year to fill the rest of the quota of 520. These cases have been security screened and health screened and is scheduled to arrive in groups between now and the end of October. In addition to this 520, the Government recently announced that it is extending the resettlement programme to take in a further 260 refugees from Lebanon in 2017.

Ireland has to date taken in 69 Syrian asylum seekers, mostly families under the relocation programme. A further 40 Syrian asylum seekers have been assessed and cleared for arrival and arrangements for their travel to the State are currently being made. IRPP officials interviewed a group of 63 people in Athens who, once cleared for travel, are expected to arrive in October. It is estimated that by the end of 2016, Ireland will have accepted over 360 people under relocation.

However, as indicated in previous responses to parliamentary questions, the pace of the relocation programme in Ireland and across the European Union had been hampered by significant operational delays and technical issues due to the sheer numbers involved and other logistical difficulties that have arisen at the 'hotspot' locations in Italy and Greece.

As regards the EU relocation mechanism, it is well documented that the pace of arrivals under this programme to date has been slower than expected. The Government is wholly committed to ensuring that Ireland meets its obligations under the EU Relocation mechanism in a timely fashion.

A team of officials from my Department, including the Director of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, travelled to Greece in June 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 overall numbers available to Ireland. The frequency and numbers of arrivals have increased and will continue to improve over the coming months.

As regards relocations from Italy, some technical issues have arisen with regard to the programme in Italy. I recently spoke directly with relevant EU Ministerial colleagues, and a Departmental official travelled to Italy in order to address the delays. Following this work a solution to the technical issues preventing relocations from Italy is in train.

The intention thereafter is to accelerate the pace and size of intakes throughout 2017 to achieve the levels required to allow Ireland to meet its commitments within the time frames envisaged under the EU Relocation Decisions.

Both the Tánaiste and I continue to work proactively with our colleagues in Europe to ensure that Ireland and the European Union responds comprehensively to all aspects of the ongoing migration and refugee crisis.