Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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296. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to ensure that unaccompanied migrant children will be cared for when they arrive here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38234/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Unaccompanied minors are a vulnerable cohort and the State is duty bound by international and domestic law to protect and provide care. When a child arrives into Ireland without their parents or customary care providers, the child is placed in the care of the State and provided with support.Tusla has a dedicated Social Work Team for Separated Children Seeking Asylum and they provide support, assessment and care to those children arriving alone into Ireland. To date most unaccompanied children are placed with foster families if received into care. However, it is important to recall that appropriate care placements are based on the assessed needs of the individual child.

Over the past five years, Tusla has taken an average of 100 referrals of unaccompanied children seeking asylum per year, with approximately 70 of these being received into care annually. Those not received into care are often reunited with family members or found to be over 18 years of age. Under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, Tusla has made an initial commitment to relocating 20 unaccompanied minors from refugee camps in Greece in 2016/17. In addition, I have asked Tusla to pursue plans to address the recent Dáil motion in respect of unaccompanied children who were previously in the unofficial camps near Calais and this work is ongoing.