Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1324. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in the context of the UNHCR resettlement programme, if he will provide a schedule of the annual refugee resettlement figures of persons who arrived in the State for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022; if he will provide a breakdown for each month, by number; and the origin of persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18298/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Deputy will be aware that, on 10 September 2015, as part of Ireland’s response to the migration crisis in central and southern Europe, the Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP). Under this programme, the IRPP has seen the arrival of over 4100 refugees under various resettlement strands, the largest of which is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) led programme.

Following a Government decision in December 2019, Ireland pledged to welcome 2900 refugees through the UNHCR led process, from 2020 to 2023

The figures requested by the Deputy are set out in the table below and include all arrivals under the UNHCR led process from 2020 to 2022. These figures below relate to Syrian nationals, approved for resettlement in Ireland following selection missions in Lebanon and Jordan. The figures for arrivals from Afghanistan under the IRPP through humanitarian admissions are also included for completeness.

The Deputy will appreciate that significant challenges arose in meeting the UNHCR resettlement targets as a result of the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, Ireland's response to the crisis in the Ukraine, and the significant increase in the arrivals of international protection applicants.

The timelines for arrivals through the UNHCR mechanism remain dependent on the time required to make necessary travel arrangements, on the space available in Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres (EROCs) and on the pace at which accommodation is made available by local authorities for programme refugees exiting EROCs.