Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the previous Deputy just mentioned, we have joined the EU migration pact and, obviously, there is a significant amount of planning under way to make sure we are ready to fully join the pact within the two-year timeframe when it becomes operational. As part of that, we are exploring, as we have been doing and investing in recent years, new and innovative ways in which we can expand our interview and our registration capacity. We are piloting remote interviews as well, which has already started. We are also looking at co-location with IPAS accommodation centres to look beyond the Mount Street centre and City West centre to see what other areas we can use. Obviously, the pact has certain stipulations as to where certain people will have to be processed. All that work is under way. Again, with the upcoming budget, I intend to make sure that increase in staff continues, but also the investment in technologies and in new ways of making sure people are dealt with in the most efficient and effective way possible. This is not about putting blockages in place. This is about making sure the people who need our help and assistance get it as quickly as possible, but also that those who do not and who are not entitled to it are removed from the country as quickly as possible.

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