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(Speaker Continuing)
[Deputy Charles Flanagan:   ] I understand the timeframe for reopening the station is dependent on a number of factors, including the brief of requirements from An Garda Síochána, the extent of the required refurbishment of the station based on current building regulations; the need to comply with fire regulations and provide disability access to the station. There are also agreed standards and specifications for Garda detention areas and custody suites which would have to be incorporated into the refurbishment. Once the specification has been agreed to, the works will go to tender and commence once the contract has been placed.
Deputy Marc MacSharry: The acting Garda Commissioner recently told the Committee of Public Accounts that the decision on Stepaside Garda station had already been made, that the OPW was pressing ahead and at an advanced stage with the project. The Minister might want to tell his colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, to send a tweet that perhaps it might never happen, certainly if the rate of progress of work on Sligo regional Garda station is anything to go by. In Sligo an existing, functional Garda station and regional headquarters responsible for policing in counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth, with 140 gardaí working in it, with an assistant commissioner, a superintendent and a chief superintendent, does not have running water, cells or shower facilities, despite the fact that towards the end of the summer many heroic gardaí jumped into the Garavogue river and averted disaster by saving four lives. Will the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross' Garda station in Stepaside join the queue behind the station in Sligo which is so dysfunctional, notwithstanding the difficulties for existing serving staff in not having appropriate working conditions, and from where prisoners have to be sent 15 miles. The Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, has pointed to the standards required to be met in holding prisoners. By contrast, there are probably umpteen Garda stations within 15 miles of Stepaside with umpteen showers, drinking water and active cells. Will the Minister give a commitment that while Stepaside Garda station is at the beginning this process, since work on Sligo Garda station is surely at a much more advanced stage, we can look forward to having a new station there before we press ahead with the reopening of the Garda station in Stepaside?
Deputy Charles Flanagan: There are no parallels between the issue of the reopening of the Garda station in south County Dublin which is the subject of the question-----
Deputy Marc MacSharry: That is for sure.
Deputy Charles Flanagan: -----and the provision of the proposed new Garda station in Sligo, in which I know that the Deputy has expressed an interest for some time. The Garda station building and refurbishment programme 2016 to 2021, an ambitious five-year programme that will benefit over 30 locations throughout the country, includes an investment of over €60 million of Exchequer funding as part of the capital plan and a major public private partnership project. The new Garda station will be provided in Sligo. The OPW placed advertisements in local and national newspapers earlier this year to secure a suitable site for the Sligo development, seeking expressions of interest from property owners and developers. Returns were received in the spring. The OPW, together with Garda estate management, reviewed the proposals submitted earlier this year. A number of suitable sites have been identified as possible options for the development in Sligo. The OPW is actively progressing the acquisition of a suitable site and it is understood the aim is to reach agreement on the purchase shortly. This may not need to be said from my perspective, but, as somebody who is on the ground locally on a regular basis, the Deputy may well be in a position to assist the State authority in reaching agreement on the purchase of a suitable site. I assure him of my interest in the matter. It is important that we advance the project in Sligo having regard to the fact that funding is in place.
Deputy Marc MacSharry: I am available to help, not that I have a site, but as a former practising auctioneer in the area, I know that there is no shortage of potential sites and that people made submissions following the call and the placing of adverts. Perhaps, in order to progress the project, the relevant parties in the OPW might like to contact me, as well as Deputy Eamon Scanlon, Deputy Tony McLoughlin of Fine Gael and Deputy Martin Kenny of Sinn Féin. I am sure the other three Deputies will not mind me saying we will be delighted to push the issue as a matter of the utmost urgency. I appreciate the Minister's offer in that regard. I will expect a call from somebody to assemble the four of us. If approaches can be made locally to have the matter pushed urgently, they certainly will be.
Deputy Charles Flanagan: There is work to be done locally and I trust that the Deputy will assist. From a national perspective, I will work closely with the appropriate agencies to ensure the matter will be advanced, having regard to the urgency of the issue which has been ongoing for many years. Advancing it is overdue and I want to see it happen by working both locally and nationally. This is a project in Sligo which has the support of all of the local Deputies, including the Deputy and Deputies Tony McLoughlin and Eamon Scanlon.
Refugee Resettlement Programme
4. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of refugees expected to arrive here by the end of 2017 in accordance with the EU relocation programme developed in response to the Syrian refugee crisis; the locations of those who have already arrived; and his plans to settle these refugees around the country. [44534/17]
Deputy Eamon Ryan: Questions were taken more quickly than I thought they would be, but I appreciate being able to ask this one. It arises from a concern I have about Syrian refugees based in Greece who have looked to be assigned in Ireland and who have been told that they cannot come here because we do not have accommodation. I know that refugees here are in welcoming centres, but they have been in them for too long and need to be located in the community. I ask the Minister for an update on where we stand in meeting our targets and speeding up the process to bring people here.
Deputy Charles Flanagan: The Deputy is referring to Ireland's stated commitments on relocation under the resettlement programme. To date, 1,406 persons have arrived in Ireland under the relocation and resettlement strands of the EU relocation programme. I expect a further 738 to have arrived in Ireland under both programmes by early 2018. Under the relocation programme, Ireland has pledged to accept 1,089 asylum seekers from Greece. Ireland was the only EU country that chose voluntarily to participate in the programme. It will meet its full commitment to Greece. Some 621 persons of the allocation of 1,089 are already in the State and a further 390 have been assessed and are awaiting transportation from Greece. By early 2018, we will have admitted our entire cohort from Greece under the relocation programme.
Under the resettlement strand, refugees located in countries such as Lebanon are brought directly to Ireland with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. Ireland originally pledged to resettle 520 refugees, double the amount the European Commission had proposed for Ireland, and we subsequently voluntarily doubled that number again. I recently announced that our overall pledge would increase again, to 1,385. Some 785 of these refugees are already in the State building new lives. On the current locations of those who have already arrived, 602 persons are housed in emergency reception and orientation centres. A total of 797 persons have been settled in 14 counties nationwide - Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Louth, Limerick, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Westmeath and Wexford.
Deputy Eamon Ryan: The Minister mentioned the progress made in bringing people here from Greece and Lebanon. Will he update us on the position in bringing refugees here from Italy? I know from the replies to previous questions that the former Minister had articulated a concern that the nature of our relationship and work with the Italian authorities had slowed down the arrival of refugees. Will the Minister provide an update of how that section of refugees have been catered for under the programme?
The numbers the Minister has given are interesting. Some 602 persons are in emergency reception centres, while 709 have been resettled. Is the Minister happy with these figures? Having visited some centres, I am concerned that the time taken to get people from resettlement centres into the community has been longer than the ideal and that while the centres are doing a good job and the people running them are doing their best, support services in providing language training and for orientation have not been as rigorous and as intensive as they should be. Will the Minister update me on whether he is happy with how the emergency centres are working and the speed at which people are being settled in the community? |
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