Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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341. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to a series of deaths at the Moria asylum camp on the Greek island of Lesbos and that aid agencies have long complained regarding the poor conditions at the camps; and if his Department will provide assistance to improve conditions in the camp. [5606/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the recent tragic deaths which have occurred at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos to which the Deputy refers. The situation on the ground in Greece remains extremely challenging with tens of thousands of refugees and migrants dispersed across the country in several sites on the mainland and islands. The situation has been exacerbated in recent months by severe winter weather. The island of Lesbos has experienced heavy snowfall and recently-arrived refugees living at the Moria camp are especially vulnerable. The Greek Government, working with international partners, has taken steps over the last number of days to improve conditions in the camp. This includes moving a number of families to another facility on the island and providing winter tents for camp residents. There are further plans to develop a new plot on the island to improve conditions.

In 2016, the European Commission announced €198 million in funding to projects which aim to improve living conditions for refugees in Greece under the Emergency Support Instrument proposed by the Commission in March 2016. This emergency humanitarian assistance was channelled to UN agencies, NGOs and international organisations, including UNHCR, IOM, IFRC and the International Rescue Committee. The activities funded under this Emergency Support Instrument include winterisation, health care, protection assistance and provision of food and non-food items and services including water, sanitation and hygiene.

Under Ireland’s Rapid Response Initiative, Irish Aid has deployed five rapid responders to Greece since the beginning of 2016. These highly-skilled and experienced personnel have provided much needed additional capacity to our UN partners’ refugee response operations on the ground, helping to improve access to clean water and to sanitation services in camps, and helping to deliver protection services.

Ireland also provides practical solidarity to Greece through our participation in the relocation programme. This week, Ireland’s tenth relocation mission to Greece is on the ground in Athens conducting interviews to pave the way for another group to travel to Ireland. To date 240 people have benefitted from the programme and two more groups are expected to arrive in Ireland this month.