Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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546. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he has been involved in recent European Union, EU, discussions on the process of extradition of persons alleged to have committed serious crimes in an EU country and in which a Europol warrant may be served across EU countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15750/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that Europol has no function in the matter of issuing warrants for extradition.

The European Arrest Warrant already provides a legal basis for the surrender of persons between EU States seeking individuals for prosecution or the service of prison sentences, including those who are suspected of, or who have committed, serious offences.

The legislative basis for the European Arrest Warrant in this State is the European Arrest Warrant Act, 2003, as amended.

The Deputy may be referring to the Schengen Information System (SIS II), which is an EU information system for creating alerts and sharing data on persons or objects of interest with the purpose of combating serious crime and terrorism. Alerts can be added to SIS II in relation to individuals subject to a European Arrest Warrant. These alerts are then visible to all EU states participating in the measure. Law enforcement agencies who encounter an individual subject to such an alert are empowered to arrest the subject as appropriate. The SIS is in operation in 30 European countries, including 26 EU Member States (only Ireland and Cyprus are not yet connected to SIS) and 4 Schengen Associated Countries (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland).

Ireland opted into SIS II in 2002, however, implementation was delayed until 2016 due to resource constraints. Ireland’s SIS II implementation project plan, consisting of four phases, is currently on target and aims for deployment readiness to be achieved in the second quarter of 2019.