Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for her reply. With the clock ticking until the UK leaves the European Union, it is really vital that our borders are secure and any security issues at our airports or ports should be swiftly dealt with. I note with some concern that the Tánaiste stated that since last November and the connection to Interpol's lost and stolen documents database, in the first eight weeks of operating systematic checks, with 700,000 documents being searched, a number of people have been refused entry to Ireland on the basis of an alert on the system being triggered. That adds to the concerns, although it is good these people were identified. When I was Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, I changed the position by giving enhanced powers at ports and airports to people like social welfare officers to limit and restrict benefit tourism.

6 o’clock

The Tánaiste needs to have an open mind about whether enhanced security arrangements need to be put in place.

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