Proposals for an increased intake by Ireland of Kosovan refugees will be put to the Cabinet following the visit of the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, to Macedonia next week.
Ms O'Donnell made the pledge at a meeting here of EU development ministers where ministers warned that the international community had to start preparing now for the winter needs of the refugees in the front-line states.
Ministers also expressed concern at the delays in EU payments of committed aid from the Union's humanitarian office, ECHO, to the UN High Commission for Refugees.
Ms O'Donnell said that the emergency evacuation of refugees to Ireland so far totalled about 500, with a further 150 arriving each Thursday.
Although the UNHCR reports that some 50,000 have now been evacuated from the region, the outflow was barely keeping up with the numbers crossing the border every night, she said.
"Ireland is planning for the reception of more refugees in response to the acute need in the camps in Macedonia, beyond the initial Government commitment of 1,000 made at the start of the crisis," the Minister said.
"On the basis of my assessment of needs following my visit to Macedonia, I will be bringing proposals to the Cabinet for revised funding."
Substantial additional funding would also be needed to help NGOs and the UNHCR prepare for winter in the camps, Ms O'Donnell said.
Ireland has so far contributed some £2.6 million to help the humanitarian situation on the ground while the Government expects the accommodation of refugees to cost around £13 million this year.
Having secured a pledge from the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Ms Emma Bonino, that the £100 million allocated to the UNHCR had now been cleared through the EU's bureaucratic maze, ministers urged the Commission to ensure that the strict rules governing payments by the EU to outside bodies should in future be relaxed for UN agencies. Ms O'Donnell said that while accountability for cash was important it clearly made sense to set different standards for UN and international agencies like the Red Cross from those applied to NGOs.
Massgoers in the Dublin diocese raised £838,131 at a special collection for Kosovo on April 11th and 12th last. The collection took the place of the usual Share collection at Sunday Masses in the diocese.
