John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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87. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Syrian refugees that have been taken into the country following the Government's pledge to take 4,000; the reason the process is taking so long; the steps she is taking to speed up the process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32893/16]

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 this programme, the Government has pledged to accept a total of 4,000 persons into the State by the end of 2017, through a combination of the EU relocation mechanism established by two EU Council Decisions in 2015 to assist Italy and Greece, and the UNHCR-led refugee resettlement programme currently focused on resettling refugees from camps in Jordan and Lebanon. The possibility of an additional refugee pledge in 2017 is under active consideration. Other mechanisms to fill the gap are also under review and will be contingent on further developments at EU level.

Under the resettlement part of the Programme, 520 refugees are to be resettled in Ireland by the end of 2016. To date, 500 of these refugees have been admitted to the State, 463 of which are from Syria. Sufficient cases have already been selected during a mission to Lebanon earlier this year to ensure that the remaining refugees in the overall quota of 520 will be taken in ahead of schedule. In addition, the Government recently announced that it is extending the resettlement programme to take in a further 260 refugees from Lebanon in 2017. The possibility of an additional refugee pledge in 2017 is under active consideration.

Under relocation, Ireland has to date taken in a total of 109 asylum seekers from Greece, mostly families. 69 of these are from Syria. A further 128 people have been assessed and cleared for arrival and arrangements for their travel to the State are currently being made. Next week a team of IRPP officials are travelling to Athens to carry out assessment interviews on a further 87 people and a further mission in December will see at least another 80 people interviewed. By the end of 2016, it is expected that Ireland will have accepted over 400 people from Greece alone under the relocation pledge system. The intention thereafter is to sustain the pace and size of pledges and intakes throughout 2017 at the levels required to allow Ireland to meet its commitments within the timeframes envisaged under the EU Relocation Decisions.

There have been well documented delays which have hampered the EU relocation mechanism and the Tánaiste is on record as stating that the pace of arrivals during previous months has been a lot slower than she or I would have liked. The delays have been experienced by the majority of participating States, not just Ireland, and are due to issues outside of our control. They include issues such as inadequate resources and administration on the ground in Greece, technical issues regarding security assessments in Italy, and a reluctance on the part of migrants to apply for asylum at migration hotspots which is a pre-requisite for entering the relocation programme.

The Government has been concerned at the slow pace of intake. In this regard, officials in the Department of Justice and Equality have worked closely with the Greek and Italian authorities to resolve these issues. In June this year a team of Irish officials travelled to Athens to help Greek authorities to identify ways of addressing administrative obstacles and to devise a more ambitious schedule for relocations from Greek hotspots to Ireland. Irish officials also helped to develop and deliver information sessions for potential relocation applicants aimed at encouraging them to take up places on offer in Ireland rather than remaining in limbo as unregistered migrants. As regards the issues affecting relocations from Italy I have spoken directly to a relevant ministerial colleague on the matter and Department officials have been liaising with Italian colleagues in Rome and the EU Commission in Brussels in order to address remaining issues.

Both I and the Tánaiste are satisfied that the pace of the programme is accelerating towards full operation at last, however, we must not remain complacent. Getting these vulnerable people to Ireland is just the first part of the challenge. Meeting their long term needs of this large influx places complex demands on services in the State and will require a consistent, sustainable and comprehensive response from the whole of Government through the work of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme Taskforce, as well as the wider community and the voluntary sector.