Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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56. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if Irish officials working on the ground in Greece administering the relocation programme are aware of a shelter (details supplied); and if they will visit that shelter to inform the refugees housed there of their options in regard to relocating here. [34128/16]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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My officials were not aware of the centre in question. However, they have made enquiries and the centre appears to have opened in May 2016 and it accommodates some migrants as well as serving as a "drop-in" centre offering a range of general activities and supports. There are a large number of migrant facilities in Athens. Irish officials do not visit shelters as this is not the process for relocation agreed with the Greek Asylum Service or the mechanism set out in the relevant legal instruments.

As the Deputy may be aware, the mechanism for relocating asylum seekers from Greece to Ireland is set out in Council Decisions 2015/1523 and 2015/1604 which establish provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and of Greece. According to Article 3(2) of the Council Decisions on relocation, relocation shall be applied only in respect of an applicant belonging to a nationality for which the proportion of decisions granting international protection among decisions taken at first instance on application for international protection as referred to in the Asylum Procedures Directive (Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection) is, according to the latest available updated quarterly EU-wide average Eurostat data, 75% or higher.

At the moment, under the established mechanisms, the main beneficiaries in Greece of the relocation programme are Syrians and Iraqis. Iraqis are no longer on the list of eligible nationalities for relocation since the beginning of July having fallen below the 75% threshold. However, those who registered before that deadline and applied to be relocated remain eligible for relocation. These nationalities are a sub-set of the overall pool of migrants and asylum seekers in Greece.

The process for relocation is that following receipt by Greece of a pledge from Ireland to consider accepting a given number of asylum seekers under relocation, the Greek Asylum Service forwards the files of asylum seekers from nationalities eligible for relocation who have registered with the Greek Asylum Service and indicated a willingness to participate in the relocation programme. In order to become eligible for the relocation programme, an applicant would first have to apply for international protection and they must go through the identification, registration and fingerprinting procedure carried out by the Greek authorities. Applicants must opt into the relocation programme; they must be from nationalities eligible for relocation and while they do not have a choice as to specific country they are sent to under relocation, efforts are made by the Greek Asylum Service to "match" them with a suitable country, including one for which they may have indicated a preference during their interview.

Ireland has submitted a schedule of pledges to Greece which covers all asylum seekers due to be relocated to Ireland under the Council Decisions. The purpose in doing this is to allow the Greek Asylum Service to project manage the pledges made by Ireland and fit them into their schedule of pledges from numerous Member States. This process is working well and Ireland has programmed pledges to September 2017 in respect of our full allocation under the relevant Council Decisions.

Irish IRPP officials working on the ground in Athens, both from my Department and from other agencies, undertake vulnerability assessment interviews with approved applicants, conduct security screening (in the case of an Garda Síochána) with those applicants, liaise with unaccompanied minors (in the case of Tusla officials), and undertake other activities relevant to the management of the pledges and the needs of asylum seekers eligible for relocation. There is a clear process in place for the relocation of asylum seekers and that process is made known to all those eligible for relocation. The Greek Asylum Service and related agencies such as the International Organisation for Migration and UNHCR are responsible for managing this process and Ireland devotes its resources on the grounds in Athens to working with bodies like these in order to ensure that we meet the needs of the asylum seekers that are due to be relocated to Ireland. That process is now working well.