Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

504. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide data on the number of persons who arrived into the State with incorrect, false or no documentation and who subsequently claimed asylum for the years 2018 to date; the number of those who did so and are still resident here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10794/24]

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

The Deputy will appreciate that the establishment of a person’s identity and nationality is an important feature of our immigration processes.

The Border Management Unit (BMU) and the Garda National Immigration Bureau (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 appropriate documentation. I can further advise the Deputy that my officials have begun a review of the Carrier Liability provisions.

Data of undocumented arrivals from 2022 to date has been detailed in the table below. Data has been collected in this format since October 2021, hence the equivalent data for previous years is not available. It is a offence under Section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004, for a non national to arrive in the state not in possession of a valid passport or equivalent document. The majority of those who present without appropriate documentation and are 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 includes persons who presented with valid documents.

*Data provided is correct at time of issue and may be subject to data cleansing.

At the International Protection Office where full applications are lodged, 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, including with respect to the current status of applicants who arrived without documentation.