Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I will begin by reiterating that it is a central priority of the Government that our immigration laws are robust and that they are enforced. Ireland is committed to the continued advancement of the common European asylum system to ensure a consistent, fair and sustainable asylum procedure at all times, not just at times of migratory pressure. Such a system demands a sharing of responsibility through mirrored approaches to migration and asylum across the European Union. This shared responsibility and shared process will need to be central to our system in future. Ireland has already shouldered some of its responsibility through the adoption of the European migration and asylum pact.

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Opting into the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level and the application of the safe third country concept will move Ireland further towards its aims of ensuring the establishment of a sustainable and coherent system and demonstrate our strong desire to participate in the continued advancement of the Common European Asylum System.

On safe countries of origin, Ireland, at national level, has designated 15 countries as safe countries of origin, most of which are on the list proposed by the European Commission. Ireland will retain the possibility to continue to designate countries as safe countries of origin at national level. That is an important point.

The application of the safe third country concept has been updated to ensure the flexibility of member states to apply that concept in their international protection process, while safeguarding the fundamental rights of applicants. This is an important element of the asylum and migration procedures toolkit. The Council recommendation on a transition out of temporary protection considers that eventually temporary protection must come to an end. However, it recognises the need to ensure a smooth and sustainable transition to eventual reintegration in Ukraine. For that reason, the measure aims to ensure the provision of information to displaced persons to enhance the co-ordination and monitor the exchange of information between member states and Ukrainian authorities.

A co-ordinated exit is crucial to minimise secondary movement and remove the risk of fragmentation while protecting our international protection system, which was a key objective of the directive's activation. It was intended to seek approval for an opt-in to the returns regulation under Article 3. However, the particular manner of Ireland's participation is still under discussion with EU counterparts, given the complexity of the legal basis issue. This issue will be formally discussed by all member states in the relevant working group later this month. Following that discussion, if the emerging consensus is that an opt-on under Article 4 of Protocol 21 would be more appropriate, I will instead ask officials to pursue that path and will seek the House's approval of the same in due course.

It should be noted that these proposals have been formulated to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, which is a central element of the pact. The Council recommendation on temporary protection seeks to ensure that reintegration for displaced persons takes place in a compassionate manner. Therefore, I hope the House will support the exercise of Ireland's opt-in in respect of these measures. I thank the Deputies for their consideration of this important matter.

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