Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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436. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline the obligation on Ireland to take in an uncapped number of applicants seeking international protection; the efforts that have been made to express capacity concerns to Ireland’s European partners; if the Government’s promise of own-door accommodation within four months to all those seeking asylum still stands; and if this Government commitment will not be realised, if this has been expressed particularly to the nations from which those seeking international protection have come. [61515/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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On 6 July 2018, Ireland adopted the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018(S.I. 231 of 2018) through which it transposed the recast Reception Conditions Directive into domestic law. The Regulations put reception conditions for International Protection on a statutory footing and place an obligation on the State to provide accommodation for any person who seeks International Protection.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government made a commitment in the Programme for Government to end the current system of accommodation for International Protection applicants and replace it with a new model that is based on a not for profit approach. As part of this process, I published A White Paper to end Direct Provision and to Establish a new International Protection Support Serviceon 26 February 2021. This paper sets out a new approach for accommodating applicants that seek International Protection in Ireland and will replace the current system.

Since publishing, the White Paper my Department has placed a significant focus on delivering these reforms. Progress made includes:

- The recruitment of a team dedicated to driving the implementation of the new programme;

- The establishment of Governance structures to oversee transition to the new model in the form of a Programme Board and an External Advisory Committee;

- The development of the community accommodation model including the acquisition of some properties;

- The development of an integration programme to support the principle of ‘integration from day one’ as set out in the White Paper;

- The advancement of our Communication Strategy to include a dedicated webpage where all members of the Public can find updates on the progress being made;

- The initiation of a planning process for Phase One Reception and Integration Centres.

- The roll out of an integration fund, offering grants to civil society organisations for projects supporting the integration of International Protection Applicants. I am very pleased to say that over €1.6m in funding has being awarded to 67 organisations through this new International Protection Integration Fund.

As will be appreciated, the war in Ukraine has had an unavoidable impact on timelines for the implementation of the White Paper. Alongside this, there has been a substantial increase in the number of people seeking International Protection with 17,838 applicants being accommodated by my Department as of 4 December and 67,000 people overall, when Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection fleeing the war in Ukraine are included.

In this vastly changed context, an overall review of the projected timelines and deliverables in the White Paper is currently underway. This is a complex exercise that will take account of both the delays that have arisen as a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the impact of the substantial increase in numbers seeking International Protection.

The review is reassessing the projections underpinning the White Paper with respect to numbers of arrivals and how this impacts on key deliverables. The review will also consider whether it is preferable to prioritise the implementation of certain aspects of the White Paper reforms over others. The objective of such an approach would be to progress with key reforms that are achievable in the current altered context and build much needed accommodation capacity in the system. This could enable progress on a meaningful reform programme that adheres to the key principles of the White Paper.

The review will also focus on identifying new approaches that will help the system to manage with the uncertainty arising from a demand-led process as well as addressing future needs.

As International Protection applicants come from a wide variety of countries and often flee instances of conflict and persecution in their countries of birth, it is not possible to communicate with them in advance as to the nature of the accommodation offered in Ireland.