Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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249. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the operational sub-group under the auspices of the Irish refugee protection programme ask force composed of representatives from relevant Departments, local authorities and other bodies to support and coordinate the process of housing refugees. [50058/19]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, in September 2015, as part of the Government’s response to the migration crisis in central and southern Europe, the Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) to provide a safe haven for persons seeking international protection. A multifaceted approach was taken to the implementation of the IRPP.

A new cross-departmental Task force was established, which I chair, to deal with the operational and logistical aspects of the support programme. A Housing Sub-Group was also established to co-ordinate the provision of medium to long-term housing accommodation for the refugees arriving under this programme. The Housing Sub-Group, which was co-chaired by the Department of Justice and Equality, and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, was comprised of the following members:

Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

City and County Management Association

Department of Justice and Equality

Irish Red Cross

The Housing Sub-Group approved an approach for resettling people arriving under the IRPP according to a series of objective criteria including the population size of the county into which they were to be resettled.

Its work has now been subsumed into the work of the IRPP Taskforce and the Resettlement Interagency Working Groups, which operate in each local authority area.