Results 3,821-3,840 of 15,389 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: In drafting legislation, if something appears to be unconstitutional or raises a red flag, it will be raised with us by my team, by the Department's team, and by the Attorney General. Nothing has been raised or flagged and we engaged with the Attorney General in developing this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: No, there is not but we are updating measures which we are already party to. We have opted in to a number of these measures in the previous format. Again, the Dublin III regulation and the new take-back regulation here is just an updated version of it. If we were not to be a member or not to join up to that particular measure, we are still bound by the Dublin III regulation, which is less...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: I think we are risking a huge amount by not signing up to any of them, or by signing up to some of them. These work as a package, and again there is nothing that does not benefit Ireland in this. There are targets that must be reached with regard to the accelerated procedures, whether it is the border, the inadmissibility, or the ordinary procedure of six months. Where we are under...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Every state is. If we are in a situation where we are under significant pressure, then we can benefit from the crisis and the force majeure issue. If we do not-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: If we sign up to it, we are signing up to complying with these timelines. If we do not sign up to it, the likelihood is that we will actually become more of a draw for other countries because if we are not processing applications quickly, then people will be more likely drawn to us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Can the Deputy repeat that? I am sorry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: We can, in certain instances, ask for a court to hold a person so that they would be detained if that person is a risk or they have been identified as a risk. Obviously, we do not want to do that for-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: They could be a criminal risk. They could have committed a crime or might have shown up on the Eurodac system. We will now have a screening process put in place by the European Union and its member states where if somebody appears on their system as being a risk, we can check against those systems so that if they come up as a tag, we can contact that member state and ask what the issue is....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Absolutely. We are signed up to the Geneva Convention and that will not change.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: I think the concern is that if you process an application quicker, then you are stripping some people's rights in terms of their right to appeal or their right to a fair process. That will absolutely not be the case. We have, in recent times, included an accelerated procedure for people coming from safe countries. They have not in any way been prevented from stating their case, making an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: I think that is for the Houses to decide and for that to be-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: With particular regard to the returns border procedure, which will not apply to us because we are not in Schengen, it is mandatory for people to be removed within the 12-week time period after they have been given their decision within the first three months. The border procedure is three months. That is everything from start to appeals. The EU and those in Schengen would have to remove...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: We are already reducing the timeframes. When I was first elected, I remember visiting people in Mosney, which is in my constituency, where they were seven or eight years in the system for an average or ordinary application. While the timeframes have gone slightly up in the last few years, it is because our numbers have gone from 3,000 to 13,000. The average timeframe is under two years,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: On the first question, it will be one piece of legislation. The way that this has been negotiated, and the way that we see it, is that while they are separate measures they are all interlinked. We will be repealing the legislation that is currently there and bringing this forward. There is a very tight timeframe but I believe we need to do it within the timeline presented. With regard...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: If somebody is transiting through but has been identified and stopped at the border, there is the new screening process, which would apply to Schengen. For example, if the person landed in Paris, he or she would be checked and put on the system, so France would be designated as the first country.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Yes. If somebody is coming through France, once they have arrived there, and if they have arrived with a visa or have valid papers, then obviously not if they then come to another country and claim asylum separate from that. If, however, they are going through France and have valid permission to do so, it does not apply if they then apply here in Ireland. That is a separate question. If,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: If they have arrived and it is identified. We will mirror the Eurodac system so we will be able to identify whether they have come up on the system as someone who has sought asylum, transited through or come up on the screening system. If they have not, they can go through our border procedure, but only if they do not have documents, if they have false documents, if they pop up as a risk on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: There will be an enhanced screening system for Schengen countries. That is part of the overall practice. While we are not in Schengen and do not have that, we would try to mirror that in our own legislation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Do any of which?