Refugees sleep outside a tent at a beach near the Souda refugee camp of Chios island, Greece (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

Tents being used as a shelter for refugees in overwhelmed Greece (AP)

The Department of Justice has confirmed that Ireland will take in a further 440 refugees from Greece this year.

The Government previously pledged to take in a total of 4,000 refugees and asylums seekers into Ireland by September 2017, under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.

However, just half of that target will be met.

Ireland has taken in 1,244 refugees since 2015 under two separate schemes.

Expand Close Refugees sleep outside a tent at a beach near the Souda refugee camp of Chios island, Greece (Petros Giannakouris/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Refugees sleep outside a tent at a beach near the Souda refugee camp of Chios island, Greece (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

Under the resettlement programme, the Government has committed to taking in 1,040 refugees from Lebanon.

It total, 785 people have arrived so far. The remaining 255 will arrive before the end of the year.

The relocation programme takes in people from refugee camps in Greece and Italy; countries where the ongoing crisis in the Mediterranean has placed an enormous burden.

Through the relocation scheme, the Government has committed to taking in 2,622 asylum seekers: 1,089 from Greece and 623 from Italy.

It has not yet been decided where the remaining 910 will come from.

So far, only 459 people have arrived under this scheme and they have all come from Greece.

According to RTE, the Department of Justice has said a further 440 have been assessed and cleared for travel.

A further 101 people are awaiting security clearance in Athens.

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