Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department takes all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, while ensuring the integrity of those processes is maintained at all times.

The establishment of an applicant’s identity and nationality is an important feature of every immigration process and this is especially so in the context of persons who enter the Irish State for the purposes of making a claim for international protection.

When a person makes an application for international protection, they are photographed and have their fingerprints taken. These fingerprints are then checked against the EURODAC database, an EU-wide immigration database which stores the fingerprints of asylum applicants and those who have crossed borders illegally.

Any person being considered for a grant of status (refugee status, subsidiary protection or permission to remain) will have a character and conduct check carried out in respect of them before any such status is conferred on them.

In addition to checks specifically on those applying for international protection, every person arriving at a port of entry in the State is subject to a Schengen Information System (SIS) check. In that regard, Ireland sends and receives SIS II information (termed ‘Alerts’) on persons and objects; for example persons wanted by Member States for criminal purposes, missing persons and objects which have been stolen or are wanted as evidence for a judicial purpose.

Information provided by applicants in support of their application, including documents concerning their identity, are recorded as part of the applicants file, but are not stored in a manner which allows detailed data to be extracted in the manner sought by the Deputy.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Border Management Unit of my Department is responsible for front-line ##Immigration at Dublin Airport only, as such the below figures reflect the position at Dublin Airport. Other airports and other ports of entry are the responsibility of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and data as requested is not collated in this manner for other ports of entry.

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.

The BMU and the GNIB are working closely with airlines on a range of measures to ensure that passengers have the appropriate travel documentation when boarding. Immigration officials are available 24/7 to assist airlines with queries in relation to immigration matters.

In addition to providing advice to airlines on specific queries, training is provided to airline ground staff on current travel documentation requirements to help them reduce the number of passengers boarding flights without correct documentation. The Department has recorded a 34% reduction in 2023 in the number of persons arriving in the State without the correct documentation.

Section 2(1) of the Immigration Act 2003 places obligations on carriers to ensure that passengers travelling to the State are in possession of a valid travel document that establishes the person’s identity and nationality, and that they have the appropriate visa if required.

While systems do not allow for the extraction of the precise data requested, it is the case that the majority of those who present without appropriate documentation and refused leave to land seek to enter the international protection process. It is also the case that some people with valid travel documents seek to enter the international protection process, hence the number of applicants for asylum below included persons who presented with valid documents.

Immigration Control at Dublin Airport

Year	Total Refusals	Undocumented Arrivals	Requested Asylum
2018	3999	895	N/A
2019	6151	1579	N/A
2020	2077	712	N/A
2021	3210	2082	N/A
2022	7,662	4,968	6,765
2023	5,826	3,287	4,712

*May be subject to slight variance following data cleansing.

**The BMU introduced the statistical system to capture Asylum in October 2021, therefore, data is only available from that time.