In September 2015 the Tánaiste promised, on behalf of the country, that we would accept some 4,000 refugees from Syria as part of a co-ordinated response from Europe to the refugee crisis, which in scale is beyond anything we have seen in my lifetime. In that country of approximately 23 million, 500,000 have died, with 2 million people disabled because of lost limbs or other disabilities. There are 6 million people displaced internally and there are now over 5 million displaced refugees outside their own country. It has not gone away as an issue, despite going off the news cycle. Almost 250,000 people in the first three months of the year were added to that list. Turkey has taken some 3 million refugees.

Lebanon has taken approximately 1 million, Jordan has taken approximately 700,000, the rest of Europe is taking 900,000 and we have committed to taking 4,000. We set a timeline of two years from the introduction of the programme. How many refugees from Syria have we accepted to date? How many does the Tánaiste expect us to have received by the deadline we have set?

The people of Ballaghaderreen and those at other emergency reception centres have shown real strength and done us proud with the welcome they have given the refugees. However, from what I hear from the people involved, the State, unfortunately, is not doing enough. We are not getting the welcome right. We are not engaging local communities. Additional resources and additional community officers must be provided to help with the integration of these people. We could learn from the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland, which has a far better record in terms of involving non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and other outside bodies to be part of the welcome. What changes in resources will the Tánaiste make in her Department? I hear that there is a lack of resources in respect of translation facilities and administrative and other staff and that this is part of the reason we are behind our target for welcoming people.

Finally, we hear that since the introduction of the new international refugee process which was put in place early last January Ireland is still operating one of the least humane systems for asylum seekers. Next to Lithuania Ireland is the least progressive in terms of allowing refugees in asylum centres to work. I received a telephone call in my house during the week through some contacts in the Syrian refugee movement from a young man who told me, "I am going to the city of Ballaghaderreen". God bless us, that is great. It could be great for the town of Ballaghaderreen, but we must get the refugees working. We must not have that young man losing his spirit, confidence or mental health further by leaving him to languish there. We must get such people working. What will the Tánaiste do to allow that to become part of the welcome for the 4,000 people we have committed to take?

We proactively committed to taking in 4,000 refugees under the relocation and resettlement programmes. Most countries in Europe agreed to accept certain numbers based on criteria that were established by the European Union, but we proactively agreed to do it. Since then, huge resources have been put in place to ensure that we will meet our commitment. Refugees are arriving almost every three weeks at present. As I have often said, there was a slow start to the programme not just in Ireland but also across Europe. The reason is that the systems in Greece and Italy were chaotic for registration. As we saw, refugees moving throughout Europe were not being registered. That situation has changed dramatically and the refugees who arrive in Greece are all being registered, given accommodation and arrangements are made for them to be relocated to other countries. Once that system was up and running Ireland was in a position to receive the refugees it had indicated it would receive. My Department has been sending teams to both Lebanon and Greece regularly over the last 18 months to ensure the programme works and proceeds.

I agree with what the Deputy said about community responses in this country. We are fortunate to see the responses given by communities to refugees in need both in Ballaghaderreen and in other places. We have not experienced some of the attitudes and reactions to refugees that have occurred in other countries. Of course, Ireland is not a front-line state and is not dealing with the numbers that there are in other countries. However, the programme is under way. We are also working on the motion passed by the Dáil in respect of taking minors from Calais. That programme has started and young people have already arrived in this country. We have sent teams to France on a number of occasions to ensure that the commitment is being met. However, it takes time.

Over 1,000 refugees have arrived under the commitment we made. They are primarily from Greece and Lebanon. There have been delays in Italy because Italy wants us to accept the security it carries out and will not let An Garda Síochána carry out the vetting there. We are not prepared to accept that. We have had detailed discussions with the people concerned to try to resolve that, but we have not been able to resolve it for security reasons. We will have to take more people from Greece to fulfil the numbers to which we have committed.

I welcome the Tánaiste's response and I commend the work that has been done. However, nobody believes that we will reach our commitment if it has taken 18 months for just 1,000 refugees out of 4,000 to arrive. I would welcome the possibility of taking in the additional 3,000 within the next few months but I do not believe it will be possible. However, let us make an effort and see if it can be done. Will the Tánaiste commit to making that possible, to ensure we maintain public confidence and maintain the welcome given not just in Ballaghaderreen but also in Dungarvan and other centres? We must put more resources in the Tánaiste's Department. The problems do not all lie with the Italian civil service. We must examine what resources we are deploying, including within the Department, given that we are so far behind in what we said we would do. The Tánaiste must deploy additional resources and part of those resources must tap into community resources to achieve a multiplier.

Finally, what comes next after the autumn? What comes next in our commitment? Where do we go from here? This is 4,000 out 5 million or 6 million refugees and 11 million displaced people in the country, so it is only a drop. What is our policy on what comes next after this original commitment?

We have accelerated the intake from Lebanon under the resettlement programme and more than 1,000 people will have arrived here from the refugee camps by the end of the year. We took 520 extra. Due to the slowdown on the other area of relocation we took more people from the refugee camps to increase the numbers. We continue to be flexible in terms of trying to respond to the need that exists and to meet our commitment on the numbers. The Deputy referred to resources. All Departments have committed personnel resources. A stakeholder meeting is chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, on a regular basis to ensure we respond to the needs of the refugees who are arriving, be they in respect of social protection, health or education. They have complex needs and these must be met. They demand a response not only from the Department of Justice and Equality, and we have put in extra resources, but from all Departments. That is essential.

The current commitment in the resettlement and relocation programme finishes in September or October this year. At that point the European Union will examine the situation again.