A total of 109 asylum seekers have arrived in Ireland from Greece under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), with an additional 215 expected to arrive by the end of the year.

In the latest update from the IRPP relocation scheme, the Department of Justice told The Irish Times it hoped to relocate 324 people to Ireland by the end of the year, including 143 children.

A spokesman said 40 asylum seekers had arrived under the relocation strand of IRPP last week, while approximately 60 more are due to arrive by the end of November. He added that more than 80 people are expected to arrive each month from December.

Under EU rules those chosen for relocation must be of a nationality with a “high refugee recognition rate”. The largest group that falls under this heading is Syrians.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald announced in September 2015 that Ireland would accept up to 4,000 as part of a co-ordinated EU response to the refugee crisis. The Government agreed to accept 2,622 asylum seekers under the scheme as well as a further 520 under a programme with the United Nations.

Refugee camps

The Cabinet agreed last July that Ireland would commit to accepting an additional 260 refugees from camps in Lebanon.

The spokesman for the department said “a significant further commitment” was set to be confirmed for 2017.

While the asylum seeker relocation strand from Greece has been slow to progress, the spokesman said the State would “continue to work towards fulfilling its commitment” and expected to have accepted “its full allocation from Greece in line with the original EU decision”.

“The relocation of asylum seekers from Greece is now taking place at a much faster rate, and we will continue to engage with the Italian authorities with a view to relocating persons from Italy to Ireland as quickly as possible,” he said.