Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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233. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to clarify the opt-out options that were, and remain, available to Ireland with respect to the EU Migration and Asylum Pact; which of those opt-out options the State decided not to avail of, and the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66370/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has opted in to the EU Asylum and Migration Pact which will come into effect in June 2026. The Pact will provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the EU, and through the introduction of streamlined and faster processing times.

The Pact recognises that migration is a challenge experienced across the European Union, which requires sharing of responsibility, robust and fair management of external borders, and stronger governance of asylum and migration policies. Migration is inherently a transnational issue and the reality is that no country can deal with the challenges of migration alone.

It is for this reason that Ireland is already part of the Common European asylum system, and the Pact is a reform of this common EU system. The European Union has competence in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice (which includes asylum) under Part 3 of Title V of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which was ratified by Ireland with the prior approval of the people in the referendum on the Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty of Lisbon) Act 2009.

Under Protocol 21 to the TFEU (Protocol (No. 21) on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice), inserted by the Treaty of Lisbon, Ireland does not automatically participate in and is not bound by measures in the area of freedom, security and justice. However, Ireland is entitled to opt into such measures on a case-by-case basis. Such opt-ins are exercised on foot of a Government decision and after approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas, in accordance with Article 29.4.7° iii of the Constitution.

Ireland has been and is today significantly integrated into migration and asylum policy at the European level. Ireland already participates in the Common European Asylum System and has opted in to and given effect in Irish law to earlier EU measures in this area, including the 2001 Temporary Protection Directive, the 2004 Qualifications Directive, the 2005 Asylum Procedures Directive, the Dublin III Regulation, the 2013 Eurodac Regulation, and the 2013 Reception Conditions Directive. Ireland has also opted in to the Regulation establishing an EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA).

Ireland has now opted into seven of the Pact measures. These were:

• Directive (EU) 2024/1346: Reception Conditions Directive (recast)
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1347: Asylum Qualification Regulation
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1348: Asylum Procedure Regulation
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1350: EU Resettlement Framework Regulation
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1351: Asylum and Migration Management Regulation
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1358: Eurodac Regulation
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1359: Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation.

• Regulation (EU) 2024/1356: Screening Regulation
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1349: Return Border Procedure Regulation