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THE DÁIL THIS week agreed to take in 200 additional unaccompanied children from the now disbanded refugee camp at Calais.
Before the vote, on last Sunday’s the Week in Politics, a panel discussed the proposal, and debated whether the Irish government had contributed enough to solving the refugee crisis.
Health Minister Simon Harris defended their record, claiming “There are now 40 migrants, or refugees, a fortnight, arriving in Ireland…”
Daithi Kennelly from Co Waterford wanted to know if this was really true, and got in touch with us on Twitter.
(Send your FactCheck requests to factcheck@thejournal.ie, tweet @TJ_FactCheck, or send us a DM).
Claim: Ireland is taking in 40 refugees every two weeks, at the moment
Verdict: Mostly TRUE
What was said:
You can watch a short video of the relevant section from last Sunday’s the Week in Politics, above.
Our focus is on this claim by Simon Harris:
There are now 40 migrants, or refugees, a fortnight, arriving in Ireland under our resettlement and relocation programme that we’re partaking in.
The programme Harris is referring to is the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), which has two parts:
According to figures provided to FactCheck by the Department of Justice, since the government’s commitment to take part, on 10 September 2015:
It’s worth noting that while the government signed up to the programme on 10 September, obviously the relocation and resettlement itself started after that date.
Unfortunately, the Department of Justice was unable to provide a comprehensive monthly or weekly breakdown of the figures since September 2015, which would have been helpful.
However, we know that on 6 July, Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald announced that “273 refugees have already arrived from Lebanon”.
So between 10 September and 6 July (a period of 43 weeks), 273 refugees had arrived from Lebanon, a rate of nearly 13 per fortnight.
And from 7 July to 8 November (a period of 18 weeks), 234 refugees had arrived from Lebanon, a rate of 13 per week, or 26 per fortnight.
So when it comes to the resettlement strand, from Lebanon, we know the numbers are increasing.
The Department of Justice also told FactCheck:
The relocation strand of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme is now interviewing more than 80 asylum seekers at a time in Athens every month for relocation to Ireland from Greece as a single group.
This represents a relocation to Ireland of approximately 40 persons a fortnight from this cohort alone.
40 arrived last Thursday week and the next group arriving this month will include approximately 60 persons. Thereafter it is expected that regular groups of more than 80 a month will arrive under the relocation strand alone.
So we have the numbers to show that in the last three or four months, the number of individuals arriving from Lebanon under the resettlement strand has doubled from 13 to 26 per fortnight, and is therefore increasing.
And we have a written, on-the-record affirmation from the Department of Justice that, under the asylum-seeker relocation strand from Greece, the recent estimated number of arrivals per fortnight has been between 30 and 40.
This yields a combined total of at least 40 refugees and asylum-seekers per fortnight.
Taking into account the unfortunate (and somewhat surprising) absence of a precise weekly or monthly breakdown of the figures, and the somewhat ambiguous meaning of “now” in Minister Harris’s statement, we rate this claim Mostly TRUE.
TheJournal.ie’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here.
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To the crew “Don’t worry, you’ll still get paid” To the instigator “I’ll shoot you!”
Yes the ultimate tool in the HR manual, somethings NEVER change, no matter how you can spin a training seminar out of it.
It is debated that an Irishman discovered Antarctica.How many people knew that.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bransfield
It’s a disgrace that Tom Crean doesn’t get the recognition in Ireland today that he deserves. A true Irish hero.
The media is too busy hero-worshippng some guy in a dress.
True Jon, Crean was a true Irishman and a real adventurer.
Leave the pope out of this.
A wonderful story never tire of hearing about these amazing men… And he had an Irish man in his crew..!
A great story. Another great is the story of George De Long and his attempt in 1879 to reach the north pole in the USS Jeanette. He had two Irish on board, Cole and Collins. That story is brilliantly told in a book called In the Kingdom of Ice. Like Shackleton’s crew, they were hardy men.
He had two Irish men in his crew. Tim Mccarthy from West Cork was the other one. He rarely gets a mention even though he was one of the six who made the 800 mile open boat journey to South Georgia. That’s considered one of the most remarkable parts of one of the most remarkable survival stories of all time, and three if the six crew were Irish.
Ernest Shackleton came from Kildare. So I read. Wonderful clear video footage of them trying to free the ship endurance from the North Atlantic Ice. Tom Crean unforgotten Kerry Man.
It’s very sad they’re mostly forgotten about. Brave men, the real spirit of adventure. They don’t make them like those guys anymore.
Enda Kenny is our Shakelton, fearlessly pulling Ireland out of the worst recession in decades despite attempts within the ranks to topple him. Actually, he’s not, I’m just winding you up.
Give it a rest, you bore.
“After thier ship sank in november 2015″ try proof reading before ye post
And Roald Amundsen reaching the south pole in 2011
‘Chilean steamer Yelcho returns to Elephant Island to pick up Shackleton’s remaining crew – in August 2016′
So 2011 when the south pole was reached by Amudsen, 4 years before Shackleton’s boat sank in November of this year? I believe Shackleton was a stickler for the fine details…I am not sure you would have made his crew Darragh.
@Fergal
If he were born in England and moved to Ireland at the age of 10, we’d still call him Irish.
Elephant Island is an island, not a rocky outcrop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Island
Some relation of his was a suspect in the robbing of the Dublin Crown Jewels , that would make him irish ,do you think
Was Shackelton irish ?
Born in kildare lived there until he was ten his father was english and his mother anglo irish
He was about as Irish as tuppence
The quote of Bertolt Brecht springs to mind; ‘Unhappy the land that needs a hero’
There’s more of it, Philip Dolan. You don’t have to be Roman Catholic, barefoot and living off spuds to be Irish. Just because the huge majority used to be Catholic Irish, it does not negate the Irishness of those who weren’t.
Brecht was wrong
He was born in IRELAND. IRISH ALL THE WAY IN CO. KILDARE.
According to the English….. .Shakleton was one of thiers! They try to claim everyone while the are winning or suceeding!!
Just watched the Documentary about this on YouTube. Excellent!
Yeah it’s very good.
have your say