Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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184. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who have been detained when arriving into Ireland and charged with travelling on a fake United States passport in the past four years in tabular form. [36473/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, every State has a duty to protect its borders and to refuse entry to people not entitled to enter the State. This is a fundamental exercise of State sovereignty, which is necessary to protect the security of the State and to prevent illegal immigration. The exercise of powers in this area is at all times subject to the law and to respect for individual rights.

The Border Management Unit (BMU) of my Department has responsibility for front-line immigration duties at Dublin Airport only. Other ports of entry are the responsibility of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).

The BMU team in Dublin Airport have had no detections of false United States passports in the past four years.

I have sought the information requested from the Garda Commissioner regarding the other ports of entry to the State, and I will write to the Deputy directly once the information is to hand.