As the Irish delegate from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on EU Affairs to COSAC, I recently visited the Sicilian Port of Pozzallo in the province of Ragusa. What I saw there in the well-staffed and well organised reception centre for migrants was the massive scale of the migrant crisis.
Traffickers have learned that desperate people are willing to risk everything including their lives to escape from war, poverty and brutal regimes. The statistics are staggering. In 2014 the port of Pozzallo received 28,168 migrants and 51 deceased. A further 16,414 arrived the following year and in 2016 the port received 19,000 migrants of whom 3,147 were unaccompanied minors. When one considers that Pozzallo is but one of the Mediterranean Ports dealing with this crisis, the 4,000 people that Ireland has agreed to take and the 1,238 that we have accepted to date, is but a drop in the ocean of the overall crisis.
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2017-06-07
Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme 2017
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme will be paid out on week ending 14th July 2017
Previous applicants do not have to reapply and letters will issue to them within the NEXT TWO WEEKS.
If you don’t get a letter you need to make a written application.
The Application Form will be available from Friday June 16th
You can get an application form from:
• All Department Offices
• You can send a text: Form BTSCFA followed by your name and address to 51909
• Email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• LoCAll 1890662244
• Website: www.welfare.ie