Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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123. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of unaccompanied minors that have been relocated here under the refugee protection programme in each of the past 12 months; the country of origin of each; the date on which they were relocated here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42127/17]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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As I said in Dáil Éireann on 28 September 2017 when I spoke during the Statements on the Report by the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality on Immigration, Asylum and the Refugee Crisis, the Government is committed to providing protection to those who are most vulnerable.  Priority is given to family groups and unaccompanied children.  Following the adoption last November of the All-Party Motion on the Calais Unaccompanied Minors, concerted efforts have been made to provide a pathway here for such unaccompanied minors as wished to come to Ireland.  My colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone T.D., established the Calais Special Project within Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.  Working directly with the French authorities, any unaccompanied minors who have been identified as suitable for relocation here have been accepted and provided with the appropriate supports.  No unaccompanied minor who has asked to come to Ireland has been refused.  In total, 26 young persons have been relocated to-date.  23 are currently in the care of Tusla and the remainder have been reunited with family members already living in Ireland.  Family tracing and reunification processes are underway for those who remain unaccompanied. I understand that further arrivals are expected under the Calais Special Project and I wish to commend all those involved in the Project for their commitment to implementing this most important commitment.

In addition, Tusla, which has statutory responsibility for the care of unaccompanied minors, has agreed to take up to 20 unaccompanied minors under the EU relocation programme.  To date, six unaccompanied minors, under the stricter Irish definition, have been relocated from Greece but there are relatively few unaccompanied minors available in the cohort of nationalities eligible for the relocation.

Efforts continue to seek further transfers within this cohort and it is hoped that further  unaccompanied minors  may arrive from Greece.  In this context it is worth noting that in its most recent report on relocation and resettlement, the European Commission specifically welcomed the actions taken by Ireland in respect of unaccompanied minors.  However, despite all Ireland's efforts it has proven extraordinarily difficult to find unaccompanied minors in Greece within the cohort eligible for relocation. 

All strands of the IRPP have had a strong focus on families and children and almost half of the admissions to-date have been minors, with almost 85% of this figure aged under 12.

The numbers, date of arrival and nationality of the unaccompanied minors are set out in the following table.

Table of admission of UAMs

The original country of origin of the 32 unaccompanied minors is as follows:

Afghanistan: 15

South Sudan: 4

Eritrea: 6

Syria: 7

Total: 32