Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI)

Lobbying Organisation Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI)

Date published 21 Sep, 2016

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Justice and Equality

Period 1 May, 2016 to 31 Aug, 2016

Specific Details Seeking clarification about the Government's intentions regards the reception, relocation and integration of refugees from camps in Lebanon, Syria and European "hot-spots". We were also interested in discussing how churches, faith communities and faith-based organisations can support these efforts.

Intended results 1. To appeal to the Government to speed up the process to ensure that we meet our target of bringing in the 4,000 people as quickly as possible. 2. To request that faith communities be informed about the proposed destination for refugees coming to Ireland, so that they can assess what supports they can provide in their local areas. 3. To request great clarity in relation to Government proposals so that the momentum generated by the public is not lost. 4. To ensure that those seeking asylum who are already in the system or in Direct Provision are not disadvantaged and to guard against the setting up of a two tiered sytem. 5. To have a meeting with the Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald as a member of The Refugee and Migrant Coalition

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Sr Sheila Curran RSM, Coordinator of the CORI Justice Desk

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Meeting (1)

The meeting was organised by the Department of Justice and Equality and the Irish Red Cross as a briefing for faith group representatives on Wednesday 6th July in the boardroom of the Department of Justice and Equality, 51 St. Stephen's Green Dublin 2.

Letter (1)

CORI is a member of the Refugee and Migrant Coalition. A letter was sent on 16th September by this coalition to request a meeting with the Tánaiste to discuss areas of mutual concern and with the view to developing a tangible and rights based national action plan which would lead up to the 2018 summit and agreement of the global compacts.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

David Stanton Minister of State (Department of Justice and Equality)

Frances Fitzgerald Tánaiste and Minister (Department of Justice and Equality)