Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

436. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she has any figures or estimates on the number of Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection and applicants for international protection resident in Ireland who may have crossed the border into Northern Ireland and on into Britain; and what efforts, if any, are being made to monitor the matter. [22589/24]

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

I can advise the Deputy that Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BoTP) are permitted to be outside the State for short periods.

Under Section 16(3) of the International Protection Act 2015, as amended, an applicant for International Protection shall not leave or attempt to leave the State without the consent of the Minister.

In the context of International Protection applicants, Section 16 of the International Protection Act 2015 deals with permission to enter and remain in the State. Section 16(3)(a) provides that an applicant, shall not leave, or attempt to leave, the State without the consent of the Minister. The practical and operational manifestation of that provision is that a person in the international protection process can request the consent of the Minister for Justice to leave the State for a specified reason and for a specified period. This consent is only granted in exceptional circumstances. 37 requests under Section 16(3) of the International Protection Act have been made between 1 January and 17 May 2024. One of those requests was from a Ukrainian national.

It is important to note that any international protection applicant who obtains ministerial consent to leave the State, or any beneficiary of temporary protection, will also be required to satisfy the immigration requirements of the country of destination before they can make concrete plans to leave the State.

As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland and the United Kingdom share a long history and common interest in the effective operation of the Common Travel Area (CTA), and work together to prevent any abuses of the CTA. There is extensive engagement and cooperation at all levels between my Department’s officials and their Home Office counterparts, as well as significant operational cooperation between the Gardaí, UK policing services and the PSNI. This also includes the Irish Border Management Unit (BMU), Garda National immigration Bureau (GNIB) and colleagues in the UK Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.

The Common Travel Area Forum (CTAF), established in 2011, acts as a steering committee for the ongoing work of protecting the CTA. The Forum meets twice yearly but also meets in sub-group format to address particular elements of Ireland/UK co-operation, bringing together relevant subject matter expertise in various areas.

There are a number of ongoing operations, in co-operation with the UK, tackling abuses of the CTA by identifying illegal secondary movement patterns within the CTA and taking effective actions to disrupt abuse of those routes.

As the Deputy is aware there are no routine exit checks on persons leaving the State, and as such figures for the number of persons leaving the State in the circumstances referred to are not available.