Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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254. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department has examined community sponsorship models such as the UN community sponsorship initiative as a format that could be used to expand Ireland's capacity to respond to the current Syrian refugee crisis; the reason he would or would not introduce such a programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41798/17]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that Community Sponsorship models are being examined by officials in the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) as a prospective way of furthering Ireland's resettlement programme and fostering links between host communities and new arrivals.  Both I and officials of the IRPP have met with NGOs who are working on proposals in this area and I have made it clear that I am positively disposed to such a model being developed and implemented.

Community Sponsorship programmes allow individuals and communities to engage in refugee resettlement efforts. Typically, sponsors commit to providing financial, emotional and resettlement support to help newly arrived refugees integrate into life in a new country.  Such a model could enable willing community groups to become directly involved in supporting the resettlement of refugees fleeing conflict and in need of protection in Ireland. It could potentially encourage innovation in resettlement and promote positive resettlement outcomes, both for the resettled families and local communities.  Officials in the IRPP are in active communication with colleagues in Canada with a view to examining how their programme works and drawing on any lessons that can be learned.

IRPP have already had meetings, both in Ireland and overseas, with other States such as Canada and the UK as well as NGO and institutional actors who are undertaking or involved with resettlement and private/community sponsorship initiatives.  The IRPP are examining the success of the Canadian Government's Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program and the progress of the recently introduced UK Community Sponsorship scheme; as evidence has shown that such programmes can build powerful bonds between sponsors and refugees, strengthen host communities; and foster positive attitudes towards refugees and resettlement.  As the Deputy knows, integration, a core aspect of resettlement, is a whole of society activity and not just one for Government.

However, it must be noted that Community Sponsorship is a significant undertaking for sponsors and the commitment and resilience organisations will need to show to ensure that all the wide range of needs of these very vulnerable persons are met in a timely and effective manner should not be underestimated.  Private sponsorship also requires considerable State oversight and related resources to be in place for it to work.  Any such model will have to make clear the respective roles of State actors and civil society sponsors and if such a model is to be developed and deployed in Ireland then it must be adjusted to and suitable for the circumstances prevailing in Ireland. So there is quite an amount of work to be done before all of these elements are in place.

It should be borne in mind that community sponsorship is only likely to account for a relatively small proportion of resettlement refugees.  However, I believe that private sponsorship can take many forms and active engagement in this area could succeed in activating the community component of resettlement and integration much more powerfully and allow the development of structured pathways to allow people to engage with refugees and migrants - in other words the creation of pathways for the expression of community altruism and solidarity. 

I have made it very clear in all my meetings with NGOs who are interested in developing such a model that both I and my official in the IRPP are willing to work with them towards the development of a viable Community Sponsorship model. It is my belief that such a model will emerge in time and I am very happy to support its development.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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255. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to reintroduce the Syrian humanitarian admission programme to expand Ireland's capacity to respond to the Syrian refugee crisis; the reason he would or would not reintroduce such a programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41799/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Before the migration crisis escalated, the former Minister for Justice and Equality, Mr Alan Shatter, T.D. introduced a Syrian Humanitarian Admissions Programme (SHAP), which was subject to certain conditions, including economic dependency being met by the sponsor. This was superseded by the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), which allows for Syrians and other eligible nationalities to benefit from resettlement and relocation schemes, and offers them protection status in Ireland in their own right including all the rights and privileges that that entails. This is a much improved programme allowing vulnerable people to benefit from protection here.

Ireland committed to accept approximately 1,040 refugees by the end of 2017 under the resettlement strand of the Programme and this commitment is on track with 785 people already in the State and the remaining 270 people due in early 2018 from Lebanon. Furthermore, I announced on 15 September last that Ireland would pledge to accept 600 programme refugees in 2018. This commitment has been made as part of a new EU Commission and UNHCR resettlement pledging exercise under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, for the period 09 December 2017 – 31 December 2018. Since the conclusion of this pledging exercise, the Commission issued a Resettlement Recommendation on 27 September, which calls for the resettlement of 50,000 refugees between December of this year and the end of October 2019. Member States, like Ireland, who have already made pledges are being encouraged to consider increasing their pledges for the new two-year timeframe of the scheme.

Under the Relocation Strand of the Programme, we will have admitted our full cohort from Greece (1,089) by early 2018. Relocation from Italy has not been possible within the two-year timeframe of the programme due to a refusal by Italy to allow law enforcement officers from other Member States to conduct security assessments of relocation candidates on its soil. Our efforts to resolve this issue are ongoing.

I fully intend to honour our commitment under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme. While the relocation strand has not yielded the expected numbers, together with my Department officials, I have been examining potential new pathways for people in need of protection following the conclusion of the EU programmes. One possibility is through family reunification, for which I intend to bring forward fresh proposals in the near future. Such a programme would concentrate efforts on reunification of immediate family members specifically caught up in conflict zones, and would be in addition to those eligible under the provisions of the International Protection Act 2015.