Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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200. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the discussions he has had with representatives of the British government regarding improving the sharing of information related to nationals of either state or third country nationals with serious criminal convictions travelling within the common travel area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18010/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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201. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the discussions he has had with representatives of the British government in relation to the need for a bilateral agreement with Britain to ensure that those international protection applicants that should be processed in Britain can promptly be returned there; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18011/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together.

Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) 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, cooperation and data-sharing at all levels between my Department’s officials and their Home Office counterparts, as well as significant operational cooperation between the Gardaí, UK Border Force, UK policing services and the Police Service of Northern Ireland in relation to both immigration and criminal matters. This strong practical engagement and cooperation serves the mutual interests of both Ireland and the UK, and will continue.

Since my appointment as Minister for Justice, I have had an introductory call and thereafter an in person meeting with the UK Home Secretary, Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, in early March in the margins of the Ireland-UK Summit, where we discussed cooperation in respect of managing the Common Travel Area. Furthermore, I accepted the Home Secretary’s invitation to attend the recent Border Security Summit, which focused on tackling organised immigration crime.

Following the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, a new arrangement for reciprocal returns of international protection applicants between Ireland and the UK was agreed; however a High Court judgment subsequently identified legal issues with the process concerning the designation in Irish law of safe third countries. These issues raised by the judgment were address by the Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 and, following an analysis required as under the Act, I have recently re-designated the UK as a safe third country for returns. Arrangements for re-operationalising the reciprocal returns agreement, on foot of the new designation, will be put in place in consultation with the UK.