Opening speech by Minister McEntee in Dáil Éireann - Motion to opt-in to seven measures of the EU Migration Pact

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A Cheann Comhairle,

This is a really important debate.

Inward migration has been hugely positive for Ireland. It has provided significant benefits to our economy and to our society. We can all see this in our hospitals, in our nursing homes, in our hospitality sector, and in our agriculture and food processing sectors. Last year alone, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment issued almost 31,000 Employment Permits. Over 10,000 of these permits were issued to people in the Health & Social Work sector. Without migration, Ireland would face significant challenges filling roles in important sectors of our economy. They also contribute significant tax revenue of €3 billion.

In discussing migration, I am also conscious that Irish people emigrated to every corner of the planet in search of a better life. For a country with a population of over 5 million people, there are 70 million people around the world that claim Irish descent. Migration is part of the Irish story.

Today we now see more people on the move than at any time since the end of World War II. War, conflict, famine, persecution, climate change, and poverty are driving people to seek new lives. The invasion of Ukraine, the War in Syria, and war and conflict in Africa are driving migration. However, we are also seeing migration weaponised by countries, including Russia, who seek to undermine our democracies and to radicalise political discourse.

I have heard this message clearly from my colleagues in the Justice and Home Affairs Council, in particular Ministers in the Scandinavian and Baltic member states.

What is clear is that we cannot deal with the issue of migration by ourselves. It is only by standing together, as members of the European Union that we can deal with this global issue. The EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which has been negotiated over many years, has now become EU law and represents the collective effort of the European Union to manage this issue and to develop an approach which is firm, but fair.

We are here today to discuss and vote on opting into the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.

Some Deputies in this house claim we can go it alone. But they have no plan. No plan for how they would return people to other EU member states that should be rightly processed there. No plan for how they would access identity and personal information in relation to applicants. No plan at all.

Like many other countries, we have seen a significant increase in the number of people applying for international protection. However, it is clear that our system was designed to deal with a volume of applications far lower that it is currently dealing with. Our International Protection system remains under considerable pressure. But we are responding. We have ramped up investment in staff, introduced accelerated processing and we are strengthening our returns system.

The adoption of the Pact now presents a significant opportunity to further reform and improve the operation of the international protection system. Each element of the Pact has been subject to extensive consultation with the Attorney General as negotiations continued. The legislation we have is no longer fit for purpose. Subject to motions being passed in the Dáil and Seanad tomorrow, I will begin preparations for implementation of the Pact, which will include a new Bill to repeal and replace the International Protection Act 2015. This will be done in parallel with a complete re-engineering of our entire system from start to finish.

We require a system that works faster, one that enables people granted protection to quickly obtain status, integrate and start a new life, but also one that ensures the efficient removal of those who are not.

Let me give a brief overview of the Pact.

The Screening Regulation will apply where a person first enters the EU irregularly, or are identified on the territory of a Member State without permission. They will be required to undergo a screening procedure within 7 days at most. This will consist of identification or verification of identity, health and vulnerability checks, security checks, fingerprints and registration in the Eurodac database. While we can’t opt into this measure, because we are not members of the Schengen area, we will align the provisions of screening in national law and we benefit from the data which is gathered by other EU member states.

At the end of the screening, all people concerned will be directed to the relevant procedure.

This will be common across the EU and the Procedure will involve four elements:

1. a border procedure

2. an accelerated procedure

3. an inadmissibility procedure

4. an ordinary or standard procedure

The most significant change is the introduction of a new mandatory border procedure. This will apply to people who have misled authorities (such as by destroying identity documents), who are a danger to national security or public order, or who come from countries with a 20% of lower approval rate for asylum applications across the EU.

Those who are processed under the border procedure will not be authorised to enter Ireland and will be accommodated at designated locations. Their applications must be processed within three months, and if unsuccessful, they must be removed within a further three months.

Ireland already operates an accelerated procedure, for example for people from safe countries of origin. Since its introduction in November 2022, the number of people applying from designated safe countries has dropped by 50%. The new regulation will make accelerated processing mandatory for certain applicants and include a three-month deadline for making first decisions on such cases.

Ireland also already operates an inadmissibility procedure, so people who have already been granted asylum elsewhere. The new regulation requires first decisions to be made within two months in such cases.

The ordinary procedure is the standard process for international protection applicants. The new regulation introduces a six-month deadline for such cases.

We will also set out appeal timelines in national legislation.

Eurodac regulation

In relation to identity checking and secondary movements, the Eurodac Regulation will give Ireland access to an improved IT system that allows us to carry out additional checks.

The new regulation expands the scope for wider immigration purposes to include asylum applicants, irregular migrants apprehended at the border and irregular migrants found to be illegally staying, and new categories for persons disembarked following search and rescue operations and beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.

It will also now include children aged six and above to enhance protections for children and combat child trafficking.

Accessing information on which Member State is responsible will help in returning secondary movers to the correct Member State. Importantly, we will have access to security information, where applicable, from the screening checks in other Member States.

Asylum and Migration Management Regulation

As a country we experience a high level of secondary movement. This is where someone applies for asylum in another member state and then applies here in Ireland.

The Pact provides us with the legal tools necessary to ensure that we can return an applicant to the first Member State where an international protection application is lodged.

The Dublin III regulation, which is not fit for purpose, will be repealed by the Pact. Therefore if we don’t opt in, we will have no legal basis to return people to other member states.

The Pact will ensure effective returns. For example, it makes the transfer process clear, and introduces timelines for the issuing of transfer notifications. It will also replace the current takeback request will a simpler takeback notification which will reduce the administrative burden of the current system.

This will allow us to identify and return secondary movers to the correct Member State responsible, freeing up our own system to assist those seeking international protection swiftly and efficiently.

Some try to make out there will be a cost to Ireland in opting in to the Pact. The opposite is the case. There could be significant costs for Ireland if we do not opt in. It is likely that we would face higher levels of secondary movement, slower processing and a less efficient returns system. This would result in applicants staying in the system for much longer, at much greater cost to the state, in terms of the provision of accommodation and other supports.

There is also a substantial EU budget of €1 billion which we can access to support implementation of the Pact across the EU. Further funding will be available in the next EU budget.

If the Houses decided not to opt into the Pact, we would have no access to this funding or to a returns system on an EU level.

The Deputies in this House who say we should abandon European solidarity in favour of a go it alone approach need to explain what their plan would be to return people to other EU member states.

Other measures in the Pact include a harmonisation of reception conditions across Member States, including accommodation, subsistence provisions and access to the labour market. This will reduce incentives for asylum seekers to move from one Member State to another again reducing secondary movement.

The Pact also establishes a new solidarity mechanism to ensure the fair sharing of responsibility across the EU. Ireland will decide annually how we want to contribute based on our capacity. This may take the form of relocations, financial contributions, offsetting against applicants not returned under takeback processes, or a combination of these.

Based on current figures, Ireland’s “fair share” amounts to 2.16%, which translates to 648 relocations per annum or a financial contribution of €12.96 million.

Ultimately it will be our decision how we contribute. Opting into this Regulation sends a clear message to our colleagues in Europe that we are committed to working with them on migration.

The number of relocations or the financial contribution could only be changed following a proposal from the European Commission being agreed by the Justice Ministers across the EU.

I am not waiting for a new law to be implemented to introduce reform. I have:

• doubled the number of staff in the International Protection and tripled the number of decisions with further increases planned
• introduced fast-track processing in November 2022, with a 50% reduction in applications from those countries
• suspended visa free travel for certain refugees and added more countries to the visa required list
• ensured over 3,000 ‘doorstop’ operations were carried out on flights that pose risks of irregular migration to end May 2024

I am legislating to increase the fines on carriers will be increased from the current maximum of €3,000 to €5,000 to ensure passengers have correct documentation.

I’m freeing up 100 Gardaí from back office roles to support immigration enforcement activities, including deportations.

An Garda Síochána have also prosecuted over 100 people in 2024 for arriving without appropriate documentation, with a significant number having been imprisoned.

I am continuing to look at additional measures that can be taken. In the coming weeks we will:

• continue to invest to ramp up staffing and capacity within the system. Today I informed Government of our plan to hire an additional 400 staff in the next 12 months
• complete the review of additional safe countries
• extend restrictions on Visa free travel for certain countries
• complete the tender for a charter airplane to return unsuccessful applications

As I have said, the Pact presents us with an opportunity to completely reform and reengineer our systems.

I have outlined some of the benefits that Ireland will experience from opting into the Pact, however it would be remiss of me not to note that the Pact also holds benefits for the applicants themselves. The Pact establishes a faster, fairer processing of asylum applications across the EU while also providing for appeals, safeguards for the vulnerable, including children.