Results 341-360 of 11,742 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: I can only speak on my own behalf, on the work that has been done in recent years, and the huge efforts that have been made to try to address the increase in numbers. In the last two and a half years, the number of people working in the International Protection Office has more than doubled. We had given ourselves a target of 7,500 first instance decisions. Last year, we reached 9,000. We...

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 have ten designated. That number has increased in recent months, and I am currently reviewing eight. I can only speak to the Deputy about the decisions I have taken but the decisions were taken only in recent 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: We have to look at the number of people coming from these countries as well. At the moment, of the ten countries, they account for about 7% of overall applications. We specifically designated certain countries. Having gone through the process, they were designated as having met the criteria where we saw a massive influx or an increase, in particular Georgia and South Africa. Since...

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

Helen McEntee: It is almost complete but it will not necessarily mean that 60% of applications are suddenly in an accelerated procedure. It is actually quite a small number. There are a lot of countries that are not safe, that we should not even be looking at and that are never going to be deemed safe. We can review them and look at them but it will not have an impact on the volume. 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: 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: On the safe countries, Georgia has been designated since 2018. Where it actually has effect is where we have applied in the last year the accelerated procedure. In other words, it can be a safe country but that does not mean you are going to be processed any quicker. It did not have an impact. It has been designated since 2018 when we saw an increase in numbers. The only way it has...

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, you cannot unless you are part of Schengen. An open border and common travel area with the UK prevents us from it because of the Schengen need for it to be able to manage borders and obviously, we have an open border. It precludes us for that reason. Due to the common travel area, we cannot opt into anything that is Schengen-related.

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

Helen McEntee: It has been the case over the past eight years that any of the concerns that have been raised are taken into consideration. If the Deputy is asking for my personal view, the more efficient a system we have the better we can protect people who genuinely need it.

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

Helen McEntee: To be clear, it is not the case that everybody comes without documentation. People who have been in the UK cross with documentation to seek asylum. It is the case that if people are identified as having come from Northern Ireland, they can have that procedure applied to them or we can designate somewhere as a port of entry. That is what we have for our ports and airports. If we were to...

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

Helen McEntee: Not along the Border, no. It is the case that one would have checks in the normal way in surrounding areas where there are normal Garda checks or checkpoints. This would be part of the checks that take place.

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

Helen McEntee: It depends on where the person has been identified. If any person is in the country seeking asylum and does not have papers or a right to be here, it is a criminal offence. It is the case that people have been charged recently, having arrived at our borders or ports of entry. If somebody is apprehended or stopped by a member of An Garda Síochána in transit, the same would apply...

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 have a agreement with the UK in terms of returns. Due to the common travel area, we have had extensive engagement to make sure that we have an efficient system that works both ways, obviously. Where we can return somebody to the UK, as I mentioned there are challenges that have arisen which we will rectify through amendments in the coming weeks related to the High Court ruling.

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

Helen McEntee: It will be a short miscellaneous Bill. It will rectify the ruling where it was identified that we had not set out properly whether somebody might not be a risk if he or she was returned to a country. That applies to the UK.

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

Helen McEntee: The UK passed legislation last night. I will not comment on its policy and what happens there.

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. If somebody arrives here from the UK, we have to have an effective system of returning them to the country from where they have come. I am absolutely certain that we have to have such a system, and I will ensure that we have it.

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

Helen McEntee: The objective is to achieve that timeline. We have a percentage that we have to reach within that time. We will obviously endeavour to go beyond that figure overall. We will try to deal with anybody who is applying through the border procedure or where the border procedure applies to him or her within that timeframe. There is a way in which our interviews take place. The people who do...

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: I apologise but I am finding it difficult to hear.

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 not. They will have the same ability to appeal as any others. It is about the timeframe. There would be designated accommodation for those in the border procedure. They would be separate. This is not about locking people up. Rather, we are talking about having a designated area for accommodation where people would stay. It would not be a detention type setting. There may 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: They will not be in detention centres. They will be in accommodation and free to come and go. We will not put barbed wire, fences or security around them. There will be a designated centre to make sure that we can apply this in the quickest way possible. That is what this procedure is about. If somebody comes without documentation, with false documentation or is highlighted as a security...