department of justice briefing note to the planning and development regulations 2016

8/20/2019 Department of Justice Briefing Note to the Planning and Development Regulations 2016

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Planning and Development Regulations 2016

Department of Justice and Equality Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Regulation 3 (b) substituting the following for the definition of “protected person”:“‘protected person*, for the purposes of Schedule 2, means—

(a) a person who has made an application to the Minister for Justice and Equality under the Refugee Act 1996 (No. 17 of 1996) or the Subsidiary Protection Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 426 of 2013), or

(b) a programme refugee within the meaning of section 24 of the Refugee Act 1996;”.

Briefing note

• This amendment removes from the definition of a protected person “a person who falls to be considered or has been considered under Section 3 of the Immigration Act of 1999”.

• Such a person is already covered by the definition of “a person who has made an application to the Minister for Justice and Equality under the Refugee Act 1996 (No. 17 of 1996) or the Subsidiary Protection Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 426 of 2013)” and the inclusion of a reference to the Immigration Acts of 1999 could lead to confusion in the reading and interpretation of the Planning and Development regulations.

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■ Asylum seekers, deemed to be unaccompanied minors by the Office of the Refugee

Applications Commissioner ORAC, are, by statute, the responsibility of TUSLA.

■ RIA has a Child and Family Services Unit whose role is to manage, deliver co -

ordinate, monitor and plan all matters relating to child and family services and to

act as a conduit between RIA and the Child and Family Agency, Tusla. RIA takes

the issue of child protection and welfare very seriously and has a robust Child

Protection Policy which was update in 2014 to include a Practice Document.

■ Children residing in centres under contract to RIA may access free pre-school

(ECCE Scheme), Primary and Post-Primary education on the same basis as all other

children in the State. Free English languages classes are provided through different

media, by the ETBs (formerly VECs) and by NGOs, for adults. Children of asylum

seekers can access school transport to and from school under the School Transport Scheme operated by Bus Eireann on behalf of the Department of Education and

Skills.

■ Residents in centres under contract to RIA are also entitled to apply for the Back to

School Clothing and Footwear Allowance for their children.

■ In August 2015, the Minister for Education and Skills announced that students in

the asylum system, who have spent five years in the Irish school system, will have

access to student supports from September 2015. The pilot support scheme opened

on the 1st of September with a closing date of the 5th of November 2015. The operation of the scheme will be reviewed in 2016. This review will be informed by

the progress made by relevant bodies in implementing the other recommendations

in the Working Group report, particularly the introduction of the International

Protection Bill.

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Briefing from IRPP Office

Government Decision - NumbersThe Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme on 10 September

2015 as a direct response to the current EU Migrant Crisis. Under this decision the

Government has agreed to accept approximately 4,000 persons in total under

resettlement and relocation programmes. This comprises 2,662 to be taken in from

migration hotspots under the new EU programme and a further 1,378 persons to be

accepted into the State on a gradual basis before the end of 2017.

Government Decision - Emergency Reception and Orientation CentresUnder the Government Decision, Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres are to

be established in recognition that we are dealing with a humanitarian crisis and urgent

actions are required. From the humanitarian perspective, best practice is that persons

coming from war torn regions should be accommodated together in the first instance to

provide a level of familiarity through interaction with persons from their own country,

culture, language, etc. It also facilitates a rapid delivery of initial orientation services.

EROCs v Direct Provision

Emereencv Reception and Orientation Centres are intended as designed as an

emergency response to a new large scale humanitarian crisis which has developed in

die wake of recent and ongoing conflict. Under the provisions of the EU relocation

programme persons considered for Relocation, and who will be accommodated in

EROCs upon arrival, must be from countries with a recognition rate for asylum of at

least 75%. Accordingly, the expectation is that many will qualify for refugee status.

Therefore, it is intended that persons entering the EROCs will have their cases for

asylum processed quickly bearing in mind the general profile of the persons involved. It

is also expected that many will be granted status and accordingly, the process of

integration will begin at an early stage

Direct Provision is in place for those who make their own way to the State and then

claim asylum. Each application is assessed in accordance with domestic and

international law. However, there is no assumption that status will be granted as

almost 90% are not considered refugees at first instance and therefore instigating

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detailed integration measures would not be appropriate and would give rise to

unrealistic expectations.

It should also be noted that the Government has approved a resource package to help

speed up the processing of asylum applications including those in Direct Provision. In

addition, the enactment of the International Protection Bill is a major priority which will

introduce the Single Application Process thus reducing the time taken to process cases.

When will persons start to be received under the EU relocation programme?

Following the establishment of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme a new cross- departmental and inter-agency Taskforce, chaired by the Department of Justice and

Equality, was immediately established to deal with the operational and logistical

aspects of the programme. One of the key tasks before the taskforce, assisted by the

Department of Justice and Equality, is the sourcing of suitable accommodation and

orientation services for the proposed network of Emergency Reception and Orientation

Centres. This involves an assessment of state properties by OPW which is ongoing, and

a request for expressions of interest from commercial accommodation providers, which

was advertised in the national media on 9thOctober (deadline for replies 23rd Oct).

While sourcing suitable accommodation for these centres is not without its significant

challenges the first such centre has already been opened in Monasterevin and is already

accommodating resettled refugees. The Hazel Reception Centre in Monasterevin is also

likely to be used to accommodate the first batch of relocated asylum seekers arriving

from either Greece or Italy in the coming weeks. More of these centres (EROCs) are

expected to come on stream in the new year once the process of identifying suitable

properties is complete.

Officials from the Department of Justice and Equality working under the Irish Refugee

and Protection Programme are liaising closely with the European Asylum Support

Office with regard to identifying people for relocation to Ireland from migration

hotspots in Greece and Italy.

In recent days, a family of 10 persons were relocated to Ireland from Greece. The family

have been provided with accommodation and related services in an Emergency

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Reception and Orientation Centre and the full range of state services are being provided

to this family.

IRPP Taskforce

The Cross-Departmental IRPP taskforce has met on three occasions, 15thSeptember, 28th

October and most recently on Thursday 10th December. Among the items discussed

were an update on emergency accommodation for the refugees and relocated persons,

the latest updates with regard to the situation on the ground in Italy and Greece and the

process of identifying those who are to come to Ireland. The taskforce also discussed

ongoing efforts to address the longer term health, educational and housing

requirements that arise when they get refugee status.

Four distinct subgroups have been established under the taskforce as follows:

• Operational subgroup - relocation programme and emergency accommodation

and services strategy

• Housing subgroup - to look after addressing the long-term housing needs of all

refugees and people with leave to remain in the State within the wider context of

the ongoing housing crisis

• Irish Red Cross/ UNHCR subgroup - handling pledges of public support and

liaison with NGOs

• Integration subgroup - development of a range of other integration supports (eg.

Welfare Services, Health, Education etc).

Funding

Funding of €25 million has been allocated for the necessary structures and supports for

the new Irish Refugee Protection Programme and the Office of the Refugee Applications

Commissioner. An increase of 89% (total budget €4.445 million) has also been made

available in funding for the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration to allow for

additional staffing and integration measures to support the increased intake of

programme refugees in 2016.

Pledges of aid and support from the public.

The Government is acutely aware that the tragic scenes which emerged during media

coverage of the migration crisis have struck a chord with the Irish public as


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demonstrated by the many generous pledges of assistance that have been made. In an

attempt to harness this goodwill the Government has tasked the Irish Red Cross with

accepting and managing these pledges of accommodation and support and where appropriate these offers will feed into the overall effort of meeting the long term

accommodation needs of relocated persons receiving status. The Red Cross is also

liaising with church representatives with regard to helping them manage the many

offers of assistance being received from their parishioners.

NGO Community's role

The Government also recognises the very important role the wider NGO community

has to play in terms of offering a variety of supports to persons in need of international protection beyond the immediate requirements of accommodation, food and health

services. The Government taskforce has already engaged with the NGO community

through the taskforce's Irish Red Cross and UNHCR representatives and in October the

Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of the Department hosted a briefing

session on the Irish Refugee protection Programme for a number of NGO's active in the

area of refugee support.

A coalition of 21 NGO's published a paper on the Irish Refugee protection process

which makes a number of recommendations with regard to the international protection

process in Ireland including a recommendation that the Government should dispense

with using commercial accommodation providers to meet the emergency

accommodation needs of asylum seekers. The reality is that it has always been open to

the not-for-profit sector to make proposals and offers in relation to the provision of

services and accommodation and this remains the case. There is no question of the

Government discouraging such offers however the provision of full board

accommodation and ancillary services creates a particular set of demands which the

commercial sector in Ireland has proven most able to meet to date. This includes

meeting the various building, fire, health & safety, and food safety regulations required

of any provider of accommodation to large groups of people.

Better communication regarding the Government's approach to the GU migration

crisis

The public's willingness to engage with the Government on this humanitarian issue

carries with it a requirement for clear and timely information on the work of the IRPP to

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be made public. To this end, the Department of Justice and Equality has engaged

external communications experts to devise and implement a comprehensive whole-of-

Government communications strategy to support the Irish Refugee Protection

Programme. Among the key aims of this strategy, which is expected to be in place

before the first relocated persons arrive, will be to address public concerns regarding

Ireland's response to the migration crisis, ensure the general public is kept apprised of

all that is happening under the IRPP, and provide further feedback on how the many

generous offers of support received to date are being dealt with.

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The resettlement programme is part of the Refugee Protection Programme.176 refugees arrrived from Jordan and Lebanon under the resetttlement programme in 2015.13 refugees arrrived from Lebanon yesterday.

A further 95 refugees are expected to arrive from Lebanon before the end of February.

Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration

The Resettlement Programme:

The Irish UNHCR-led resettlement programme began in 2000. Between then and 29th

September 201 5,1,28 5 vulnerable persons from 27 different countries, including Iraq

and Syria, have been resettled in Ireland and 40 additional persons have been relocated

from Malta. Refugees have already been resettled in 26 different communities

throughout Ireland - Killamey, Kilkenny, Carlow, Cavan, Monaghan town and

Carrickmacross, Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon, Sligo, Ballina and Castlebar, Ennis,

Limerick, Cork, Tralee, Thurles, Portlaoise, Tullamore, Waterford, Naas, Arklow and Mullingar - and in the four Dublin Local Authority areas.

2015/2016 quota (520 persons)

A further 176 refugees arrived from Lebanon by the end of 2015 and have participated

in language training and orientation programmes. Some have already moved to

permanent accommodation (in Thurles, Portlaoise, Killamey and Tralee) and others

will follow in the coming weeks to other communities. A grant will be given to the

receiving communities to employ a resettlement worker to support the refugees in the

first year post resettlement.

Approx 100 additional refugees are due to arrive from Lebanon in the coming months.

The balance of approx 200 refugees of the quota of 520 refugees for 2015/2016 will be

admitted in stages throughout 2016.

Housing for programme refugees

Following a period of rest and orientation, refugees are housed in communities across

the country in close cooperation with the local authorities and other local services.

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Planning and Development Regulations

Speaking points

• Th is amendment is a tech nica l amendment to the Principal regulation to remove the possibility

of confusion in the reading and interpretation of the Planning and Development regulations.

• Under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, Ireland is committed to accepting up to

4,000 persons on resettlement or relocation into the country over the next two years.

• The first such persons arrived in Ireland last week and are being provided with the full range

of State services.

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department of justice briefing note to the planning and development regulations 2016

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