Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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57. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of Ireland’s commitment to receiving 4,000 persons under the Irish refugee protection programme; the number of persons who have arrived here under the resettlement and relocation programmes as of May 2018, by countries of origin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22377/18]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Government agreed to accept 4,000 persons into the State under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.

Under the resettlement programme, the IRPP has admitted a total of 792 refugees to date - 732 Syrians, 50 Iraqis and 10 Syrian Palestinians. A further 264 refugees - 259 Syrian and 5 Iraqi nationals - currently in Lebanon, are expected to arrive before the end of the summer, the first group of whom will come to Ireland over the next weeks.

Under the relocation programme, which is now complete, the IRPP admitted a total of 1,022 persons - 959 Syrians, 61 Iraqis, 1 Libyan and 1 Syrian Palestinian.

In addition, the Government has taken 41 unaccompanied minors from Calais to date and, working with colleagues in Tusla and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, intends to ask Italy and Greece to provide up to 60 unaccompanied minors before the end of 2019. This will leave a balance of 1,881 persons due to come to Ireland under the Programme.

A second phase of the IRRP has now commenced to address the balance of persons still to be admitted. Two missions to Lebanon will take place in June and September 2018 with a view to selecting 345 refugees. Further missions will take place in 2019 to select an additional 600 refugees.

The Government has also recently announced a further mechanism to deliver on the commitment of 4000. The recently announced IRPP Humanitarian Assistance Programme (IHAP) will provide for the admission of up to 530 immediate family members of Irish citizens, beneficiaries of international protection and programme refugees from the top ten major source countries of refugees listed under the UNHCR Annual Global Trends Report before the end of 2019. The first call for proposals under the IHAP was launched on 14 May 2018 and will remain open until 30 June 2018. Two further calls will be made during this year and additional calls may be made in 2019.

The remaining balance under the IRPP will be admitted either by way of increased resettlement pledges or via the IHAP, if there is sufficient demand under this programme.