Ireland will need reception area for refugees, says Howlin

A single reception area for refugees coming into Ireland will be required to assess people's needs, such as possible medical care, before they are spread around the country, Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin has said.

Those who arrive may not speak English and will have to be processed and integrated, as well as given some information about Ireland, he added. The Government envisaged such a facility being run with the assistance of NGOs such as the Red Cross.

Speaking on the Irish Times' Inside Politics podcast, Mr Howlin said the amount of money needed to properly accommodate refugees is not yet clear.

“We don’t know that yet because there will be a number of things. Firstly, we have to see when people will arrive, the numbers. Will they arrive all at once? Probably not.

“Over time, where should they be? There will obviously have to be some sort of central area where people will be properly processed, integrated, explained where they are and what Ireland is about and so on before we look for a more permanent habitation for them.

“There will have some sort of reception area, welcome area. We envisage that it would be involving organisations like the Red Cross, people who have strong international experience in these matters

“People who are arriving may not speak English, may be fearful. They will have endured an awful lot on their journey to date and all of these things will have to be carefully and sympathetically addressed.

“Peoples’ health status will have to be addressed. If anyone needs urgent medical care, that will have to be provided. That will be done in one welcoming centre.”

Meanwhile, a special Cabinet meeting to discuss the migrant crisis is scheduled to begin at 7am on Thursday.

The Government spokesman said the number of refugees Ireland might take was not discussed “in any detail” at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting but would be discussed on Thursday.

He said among the issues discussed, “not to finality”, included European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s speech and how refugees would be assigned to Ireland.

How refugees would arrive and accommodation arrangements for them were also discussed, as was the processing of their refugee status and the sort of financial and language supports that would be required.

The spokesman said every state agency that might have something to offer would be involved.

He said the Government was going to have to “customise” a system for the intake of these refugees.

This would have no impact on those currently housed in the Direct Provision system, he insisted.

He said there was an urgency attached to the current migrant crisis, but addressing it did not mean that “anyone else is going to suffer”.

He declined to answer a question about whether or not the refugees would be allowed to work on arrival, saying it was not the most immediate issue.

“The intention is to provide clarity on how the process is going to work,” he said.

He was speaking at the post-Cabinet briefing on Wednesday.