The Minister for Children has said that 131 refugees from camps in Greece will be received in Ireland before Christmas.
Ireland has agreed to resettle 4,000 refugees and migrants fleeing to Europe’s borders, 2,600 of them from camps in Greece and Italy.
Katherine Zappone says it is anticipated that the quota from those camps will arrive in Ireland by the end of next year.
Ms Zappone, who is on a three-day official visit to Greece, said that approximately 80 refugees a month will be received in Ireland from now on.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Zappone said: "Our officials have assured us that before Christmas we will be receiving another 131 refugees, and that we would anticipate having the full number of refugees coming from Greece and Italy, in the resettlement programme, by the end of 2017. That's about 2,600 of the 4,000."
She said that while Ireland wants to be true to its refugee commitments, one of the key issues was to do with housing and accommodating those in need.
Ms Zappone also said that she was in favour of stopping direct provision but added the same challenges around housing and communities remained in re-homing those already in direct provision.
