Ireland has agreed to accept 600 extra Syrian and Eritrean migrants as part of efforts to ease the migration crisis in the Mediterranean.
The Government signed off on the relocation scheme before a meeting of European Union justice ministers on Monday in Luxembourg.
The Irish Times says that this is in addition to 520 migrants the State is accepting as part of a separate resettlement initiative for migrants residing outside the EU.
The extra migrants will be taken in over the next two years as part of a plan to redistribute refugees arriving in Italy and Greece across other EU member states.
Jerry O'Connor from the Immigrant Council of Ireland is welcoming the news but he says that a refugee programme needs to be established first
