Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are a number of small issues I want to deal with. I will continue Deputy Dillon's line of questioning regarding immigration. For reasons to do with our history, we probably have never seen the significant numbers we have seen in the past number of years and we have probably never had the full public debate on the issue of immigration that we see in many other countries. Sometimes things are thrown out in that debate that may or may not be true. I want to use this opportunity to talk through some of those and the processes that are put in place. The biggest question I get asked involves what happens when people come to our airports. At a previous committee, the witnesses noted that a very significant number - possibly as many as 40% - were non-port or airport applications for asylum but there is a question about those who come to airports. They get off a plane and clearly had to had a passport to get on a plane but then they present without a passport. Can Ms McPhillips talk me through that issue, the veracity of that and what we are doing to address the issue?