Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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51. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will report on the progress of taking in unaccompanied minors from Calais and on the setting up of the national project office to care for these children. [15133/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am happy to report to the Deputy that, in keeping with good practice and the conditions set out in the Dail resolution from last November, a group of 19 young people have had their needs assessed and have been security screened in France, and a further 21 young people will be met and interviewed shortly. Tusla has advised that all 19 young persons interviewed to date have been approved for relocation, and 13 have arrived and the remaining 6 young persons are at an advanced stage in the relocation process. The young people are aged between 13-17, all boys and come from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Syria, and South Sudan. These young people have been allocated social workers and have been placed in residential settings while their care needs are being assessed. I would note that, during this process, assistance to reunite the young person with family is provided where it is possible to do so. Further missions to France are planned, with the valued cooperation of the French Ministry of the Interior, for April 2017.

To coordinate Tusla's role in this effort, the Calais Special Project (CSP) has now officially been launched by the Agency and is being led operationally by their separated children's team. Additional capacity has been put in place for the assessment and management of the care needs of the young persons when they arrive in the State. Tusla liaises closely with the HSE, the Education and Training Boards and other State bodies to address each young person's identified needs, including educational, psychosocial and health supports. In addition, I wish to acknowledge that the CSP has received the support, co-operation and guidance of the International Organisation for Migration Dublin and France, Irish Refugee Protection Programme, International Protection Office, the French Ministry of the Interior, Irish Embassy in France, and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. I am also grateful to the NGOs who have provided valuable information on young persons who expressed an interest in relocating to Ireland.

I welcome the most recent news of the relocation of young persons to Ireland from France. I will continue to monitor the situation closely to help ensure that the whole of Government response to this humanitarian effort is successful.