Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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41. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Syrian refugees resettled here in 2016; the anticipated number to be settled here during the first quarter of 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39289/16]

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, of whom 1,040 refugees (520 in 2015/2016 and 520 in 2017) will come to Ireland under the UNHCR led refugee resettlement programme currently focussed on resettling refugees from Lebanon.

The resettlement strand of the programme is focussing on cases displaced by the Syrian conflict into Lebanon and proposed to Ireland by UNHCR. Most but not all of the cases referred are Syrian. In 2016, 312 Syrian refugees were admitted. In total, 507 persons displaced by the Syrian conflict (448 of whom are Syrians) have arrived in Ireland from Lebanon since 4 August 2015 and a further 12 refugees (all Syrians) are scheduled to arrive from Lebanon in mid December 2016. By mid-December 2016, all but one of the quota of 520 resettled refugees for 2015/2016 are expected to have arrived

In addition, the Government recently announced that it is extending the resettlement programme to take in a further 520 refugees from Lebanon in 2017. 260 refugees have already been selected during a selection mission to Lebanon in October 2016 and are expected to arrive in Spring 2017. Most of these refugees are also Syrian. A further selection mission to Lebanon will be arranged in the coming months to select the remaining refugees due to come to Ireland in 2017 under the resettlement programme.