Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you Chairman and members. I am pleased to be here. I thank the committee for taking this matter this morning. I am joined by officials, Mr. Patrick McCabe and Mr. John Dunphy.

The purpose of the motions is to seek the approval of the Oireachtas for Ireland to opt-in to Regulation 2018/1726 which relates to the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, or eu-LISA for short. Ireland already participates in the eu-LISA agency on the basis of our opt-in to eu-LISA establishing Regulation EU/1077/2011 which is repealed by this regulation. It is therefore necessary for Ireland to opt in to the new regulation which strengthens the mandate of eu-LISA.

As a European Union agency, eu-LISA has effectively contributed to the establishment of a co-ordinated, effective and coherent IT environment for the management of large-scale freedom, security and justice IT systems. euLisa has enabled the pooling of expertise, the harnessing of synergies and allowed a more flexible framework than was possible when the systems were developed and managed by the commission, with certain tasks entrusted to public sector bodies in two member states. The new regulation will benefit member states and agencies who are end users of the relevant large scale IT systems by enhancing the role of eu-LISA with regard to future developments in IT systems and providing support to member states when required. Ireland has representatives who attend the advisory groups in respect of the IT systems in which we participate which are the SIS II and Eurodac. Representatives from An Garda Síochána also participate in the management board of eu-LISA which, among other tasks, appoints and oversees the work of the agency’s executive director.

The support of eu-LISA and our other partner member states has been invaluable to Ireland in the development of our own solutions for these large scale IT systems. The participation of euLISA is of particular importance for the Garda’s project to connect to the Schengen information system, SIS II. Technical experts from eu-LISA have been involved both on the ground in Dublin and through web attendance at workshops on topics such as data migration. euLisa, working closely with An Garda Síochána to build and test the systems necessary to ensure that Ireland is in a position to go live on SIS II early next year.

Ireland’s participation in eu-LISA has also been important for our connection to the update of Ireland’s national Eurodac systems, as required by our participation in the Eurodac regulation. The Oireachtas approved Ireland’s participation in both SIS II and Eurodac and we are now bound by our obligations under those regulations. The support of eu-LISA is vital in meeting these obligations.

This regulation expanding eu-LISA’s mandate will ensure that the agency is adapted to meet current challenges at EU level in the area of migration and security, and provide a proper legal basis for euLISA’s operation and management of the planned new IT systems. Before going into some detail about the new eu-LISA regulation, I merely wish to emphasise that participation in the eu-LISA agency does not mean that Ireland will be opting into any additional regulations in respect of any EU large-scale IT system. Continued participation in eu-LISA would not oblige Ireland to participate in the new systems under its expanded mandate. Ireland’s participation in such systems is a matter for the individual legal bases governing such IT systems.

In particular, I want to acknowledge concerns of Deputies which were raised last night in the Dáil on the proposed interoperability of EU large-scale IT systems. It is true that eu-LISA will have a mandate to develop any technical features of interoperability which may arise as a result of proposals in this area. However, I want to be very clear that it is not the case that Ireland will participate in measures relating to the interoperability of large-scale EU IT systems in the justice and home affairs area as a result of our opt-in to this eu-LISA regulation. Ireland has the option under Article 4 of Protocol 21 to participate in the forthcoming interoperability regulations following their adoption. These proposals have not yet been agreed at Union level so the decision to exercise our opt-in would require the consent of the Oireachtas under the justice and home affairs protocol. There would be a debate on the merits of interoperability regulation at that point. Therefore, I would ask that Deputies not by any manner of means conflate interoperability with this eu-LISA regulation which Ireland will participate in only in so far as it relates to the systems in which we already participate. It would not be appropriate to have a debate on the interoperability proposals which have not yet been agreed at this time because no decision has been made as to Ireland’s participation in it. Ireland does not yet participate in all of the systems that is proposed to make interoperable, for example the ECRIS-TCN system. For this reason I have been advised by the Office of the Attorney General and I decided not to propose to exercise Ireland’s opt-in under Article 3 of Protocol 21 when the interoperability proposals were published. These proposals are somewhat complex and would require a dedicated discussion as to their merits but that is not the topic before us this morning. The number of EU large-scale IT systems has grown and it is therefore important to place eu-LISA’s responsibility for their operational management on a statutory footing. In this regard this regulation achieves this goal in respect of the entry-exit system and the EU travel information and authorisation system. Additionally, eu-LISA will now be enabled to provide more support and advice to member states. The regulation places additional responsibility on eu-LISA for improving the quality of the data, establishing common data quality indicators and developing an anonymised central repository for reporting and statistics. The regulation extends eu-LISA’s mandate concerning research in particular, giving eu-LISA the task of implementing the parts of the framework programme for research and innovation which relate to IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice.

It is proposed that more pilot projects may be entrusted to eu-LISA. The new mandate of eu-LISA offers the possibility of support to the Commission and to member states in periods of exceptional need. I believe, therefore, that it is essential that Ireland is an active partner in Europe’s fight against terrorism in the effort to ensure effective management of our borders. eu-Lisa is an essential agency that has demonstrated significant added value and whose expanded mandate effectively addresses gaps in the current systems. We look forward to continuing to play an active role in the agency, bearing in mind our limited participation which focuses on the field of police cooperation. I hope, therefore, that the committee will support the motion to exercise Ireland’s opt in to the regulation and continue what has been a beneficial relationship within eu-LISA. Thank you, Chairman.