Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

On the section, the provisions are eminently sensible and they are not a departure from what is happening. If someone presents themselves at Dublin Airport to travel to any continental country, his or her passport is requested and if he or she does not have it, and this is nothing to do with the Ryanair situation where a passport is required to board the aircraft, the carrier will not accept him or her. I assume that is for a good commercial reason in that if the passengers arrive at their destination without their passports they will not be admitted and there is probably an obligation on the carrier to take them back to Ireland.

With regard to ports, Senator Ryan made the point that we are dealing with a larger volume of people. However, when people present themselves at the port, the carrier will ensure that they have a valid ticket for commercial reasons. In fact, that would be a good stage to check the documentation. This is not impractical and as far as I know – perhaps the Minister will clarify this – the same practice pertains in other countries. This is merely to regulate the movement of people between one country and another.