Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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60. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of opt-ins under Article 3 and under Article 4 of Protocol 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in each year since the introduction of the protocol, including to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36604/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department publishes a list of measures that Ireland has opted into on our website. This list, up to December 2022, is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/policy-information/european-affairs/

Those measures Ireland has opted into since the start of December 2022 are contained in the table at the link below and I have made arrangements for the website to be updated to include these additional measures.

Last May I published the findings of a Review of the operation of Protocol 21, which is a legal mechanism that is part of the Treaties of the European Union and which, uniquely, provides for Ireland to be able to opt-into measures that relate to the area of freedom, security and justice on a case-by-case basis.

The review was undertaken by my Department and informed by detailed statistical analysis of relevant legislation, internal and external consultations, and by a targeted consultation process with a range of key stakeholders facilitated by the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA).

Among the recommendations made in the review are that Ireland continue to be covered by the terms of Protocol 21 but that greater adherence be given to the undertaking in Declaration No. 56, which was made by Ireland at the time of the negotiation of the Protocol, and which commits to Ireland participating to the maximum extent possible in all measures covered by the Protocol.

At the time the review was published I noted our unique defining characteristic as a member state which we must continue to protect, chief among them being our membership of a Common Travel Area with the UK and our common law legal system. I agree with the key findings of the review that it is in Ireland’s best interests that we continue to be covered by the terms of Protocol 21 but that we must adhere to the undertaking we made to opt into measures to the maximum extent possible. Doing so will help demonstrate our commitment to protecting and strengthening the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

Most recently we have lived up to this by opting into a range of important measures including: the seven non-Schengen measures that form part of the Migration and Asylum Pact; the new Directive on the rights of victims of crime; a Regulation to enhance police cooperation in relation to the prevention, detection and investigation of migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, and a Regulation on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material.