Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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146. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of asylum seekers seeking international protection who arrived in Ireland to date in 2023 having come from another European country; and the number who were returned under the Dublin Convention. [10353/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Seeking protection is a human right and when someone asks for protection at the border of a country, that country’s authorities must examine that application. Ireland, as a party to the Geneva Convention, must also meet this obligation. Each application for international protection is examined in detail on its individual merits, taking all factors into account.

Information is not available to my Department that would identify the country of transit (such as a European country) taken by a person arriving in Ireland and subsequently making an application for international protection.

The Dublin Regulation determines which EU Member State is responsible for examining an international protection application. It is based on the principle that the first Member State to facilitate entry to the EU should be responsible for examining the protection application. The making of a transfer decision under the EU Dublin Regulation is not a deportation order. 

There are various reasons why a country may be responsible for examining the international protection application. These reasons are considered in the order of importance by the law, starting from whether the applicant has a family member present in that Dublin country; whether the applicant now or in the past have had a visa or a residence permit issued by a Dublin country; or whether the applicant have travelled to, or through, another Dublin country, either legally or irregularly

When an applicant lodges a request for international protection, if they are 14 years of age or older, their fingerprints will be taken and transmitted to a fingerprint database called ‘Eurodac’. Fingerprints will be checked within Eurodac to see if they have ever applied for asylum before or to see if they were previously fingerprinted at a border. This helps to determine which country under the Dublin convention is responsible for the examination of the asylum request.

The Dublin Unit of the International Protection Office (IPO) in the Department is responsible for determining whether an applicant should be transferred to another Member State (known as an outgoing transfer request) or have their application assessed in Ireland. The Unit also responds to requests from other Member States to transfer applicants to Ireland (known as an incoming transfer request).

If the Unit considers that another country is responsible for examining the application through the applicant’s statement or supporting documents, the Unit will send a ‘take charge’ request and request that country to accept responsibility within 3 months of the date of the submission of the application in Ireland. However, if the responsibility of another country is established based on the fingerprint data, a ‘take back’ request to the other country will be sent within 2 months from the moment the results are obtained from Eurodac. The Regulation set out time limits for all Dublin process including the transfer. If any of the timeline is not met, the responsibility will be shifted back to Ireland to consider the application.

I can confirm there have been no transfers effected to date in 2023. There were 24 outgoing transfer decisions made in 2022 under the Regulation and a total of 3 people were returned in 2022 on foot of a Dublin Convention transfer order. While the numbers of transfers effected appear low, it should be noted that Dublin Regulation transfers can be challenging to enforce due to a number of factors, including potential legal challenges and transfer arrangements which need to be made with the returning country. In addition, a person can make submissions to the Minister requesting for their case to be dealt with in Ireland which can further impact on the timeframes and numbers transferred. 

My Department is committed to reducing processing times for international protection applicants and is taking steps to ensure that applications are dealt with as quickly as possible.