Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Under Section 4 of the Immigration Act 2004, an Immigration Officer must determine whether a non-EEA national should be granted leave to land and gain entry to the State. In performing their duties, an Officer is required to consider all of the circumstances of the individual at the time of entry. Section 4(3) of that Act sets out the full range of grounds on which a passenger may be refused.

Immigration officials conduct passport checks, and run operations as required, to ensure passengers arriving in the State are properly documented in accordance with Section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004.

Both the BMU and the GNIB are working with airlines and international colleagues to take measures both at domestic airports and points of embarkation to address the questions of persons arriving without proper documentation. In addition to providing advice to airlines on specific queries, training is provided to airline ground staff on current travel documentation requirements. The number of undocumented arrivals, which represents a very small proportion of all travellers who require leave to land, has reduced significantly this year.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that there were no charges pursuant to section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004 in 2023 or 2022.