James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Opting into the pact is Ireland's opportunity to undertake co-ordinated wide-reaching reforms in an area that has seen mounting public interest in recent times. It will provide better co-ordination between member states, the faster processing of applications and return of inadmissible and failed asylum applicants, reduced secondary movement and enhanced data sharing and screening through an improved Eurodac system.

We in Ireland have seen record numbers of asylum applications in recent years, with 13,651 international protection applications lodged in 2022, representing a 415% increase from 2021 figures. This trend is broadly comparable to what we are seeing in Europe, where there was a large influx of asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016 and again in 2022 and 2023. The reforms as presented in the pact can be seen against a backdrop of the long-standing challenges faced by member states in dealing with the increase in the number of asylum applications. There is also an indication that this record will abate in an increasingly unstable world.

One challenge the pact seeks to address is the enhancement of security and data collection in the area of migration. In this vein, the pact outlines strategies for increasing security along external borders. This includes frameworks for pre-entry screening, establishing an asylum and migration database, efficient boarder procedures for asylum seekers and crisis protocols. Under the pre-screening entry regulation, a uniform pre-entry screening procedure will be introduced for third country nationals who arrive irregularly at an external border or are found staying illegally in a member state. Screening consists of a preliminary health and vulnerability check, an identity check, the registration of biometric data in the appropriate databases and a security check through a query of relevant national and Union databases.

This particular regulation is a Schengen measure and thus Ireland will not be able to opt into it. However, this is a prime example of why it is important that we viewed the pact as a package and not a legislative pick-and-mix, choosing only the regulations we deem that best suit us. Each of the regulations work in harmony with each other. The pact's strengths lie in the fact that it provides a universal and not selective approach. We cannot opt into this particular regulation, we will reap the benefits of it through opting into the Eurodac regulation. Through this, we will be able to access an enhanced Eurodac system which will contain information captured by Schengen countries through the screening process. Opting into the Eurodac provision is of particular importance to us in Ireland as not only will we be able to access further information around any potential security threats, we will also have access to further information around secondary movements.

We are all too aware that Ireland, due to its geographic location, experiences high levels of secondary movements. It is estimated that at any given time upwards of 50% of international protection applicants arriving in Ireland have been in another member state prior to their arrival.

By opting into this regulation, we will have further information on these applicants, including their fingerprints, photographs and any potential security flags. It will also allow us to access this information quickly and will aid us in returning secondary movers to the correct member state.

Enhancing security on our own borders is also provided for in the pact with the introduction of mandatory border procedures. Those applicants who have entered the State irregularly and pose a security threat as well as those who present with false documents or are citizens of countries with low recognition rates, will be subject to this procedure and will not be authorised to enter the State. They will be accommodated at designated locations and their applications, appeals and removal decisions must be processed within three months. The aim here is to issue decisions in the quickest time possible to those less likely to have an entitlement to international protection.

As I previously mentioned, the pact emerged from the migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016. We can see the imprint of this on the crisis and force majeureregulation proposed in the pact. This regulation allows for countries in times ofcrisis and force majeure situations limited derogations from asylum procedures. These would be temporarily available to member states and would include options such as the option to extend processing times or immediately provide a protection status equivalent to a subsidiary protection. Managing migration must not be presented as a zero-sum game. However, continuing down a path where there is no common system for migration across all member states, leads to a situation where we all lose.

The pact is a balance between proper border management and an asylum and migration system that is fair to those in need of protection but firm with those who are not eligible. People have always migrated and will continue to do so, driven by poverty, war and climate change. We have a responsibility to help those people. However, our system is being congested by those who do not have legitimate reasons for applying for asylum. This diverts much-needed resources from those who genuinely need them. That is why we need swift and fair procedures, similar to those proposed by the pact.

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