Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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281. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 29 June 2016, the steps his Department has taken regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49235/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Since 16th June, 2015, frontline immigration controls have been undertaken in Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport on a 24/7 basis by civilian staff from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department. In October 2015, INIS civilian staff took over the front-line immigration controls in the Transit Area of Terminal 2. On 2nd October 2017, responsibility for these controls in Terminal 2 was handed over from the Garda National Immigration Bureau to INIS, thus completing the transfer of frontline passport checks at Dublin Airport to civilian staff.

In relation to expanding the civilianisation programme to other ports of entry, my Department will consider deploying civilian officers to other major ports of entry to the State where this makes sense from a cost and efficiency perspective. In circumstances where An Garda Síochána will maintain a presence at our ports to continue their crucial policing role in protecting our borders from a security and enforcement perspective, one of the requirements of further civilianisation at other ports of entry will be to achieve the right balance between Gardaí and civilian staff. In this light, the nature and volume and time distribution of passenger traffic at other ports of entry will be a determining factor in any decision to deploy civilian immigration officers.