Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 January 2023
565. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice the number of asylum seekers seeking international protection who arrived in Ireland in 2022 having come from another European country; and the number who were returned under the Dublin Convention. [4549/23]
View answerSeeking protection is a human right and when someone asks for protection at the border of a country, that country’s authorities must examine that application. Ireland, as a party to the Geneva Convention, must also meet this obligation.
Immigration officials conduct passport checks on arrival to ensure passengers are properly documented in accordance with Section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004. If a person indicates or is identified as being in need of international protection, they are admitted to the international protection process. Each application for international protection is examined in detail on its individual merits, taking all factors into account.
Information is not available to my Department that would identify the country of transit (such as a European country) taken by a person arriving in Ireland and subsequently making an application for international protection.
When processing international protection applications, the International Protection Office (IPO) checks every applicant over the age of 14 against the Eurodac database, which is a database that stores the fingerprints of international protection applicants or people who have crossed a border illegally.
The making of a transfer decision under the EU Dublin Regulation is not a deportation order. The Dublin Regulation determines which EU Member State is responsible for examining an international protection application. It is based on the principle that the first Member State to facilitate entry to the EU should be responsible for examining the protection application.
The Dublin Unit of the International Protection Office (IPO) in the Department is responsible for determining whether an applicant should be transferred to another Member State (known as an outgoing transfer request) or have their application assessed in Ireland. The Unit also responds to requests from other Member States to transfer applicants to Ireland (known as an incoming transfer request).
I can confirm that there were 24 outgoing transfer decisions made in 2022 under the Dublin Regulation and a total of 3 people were returned in 2022 on foot of a Dublin Convention transfer order. While the numbers of transfers effected appear low, it should be noted that Dublin iii transfers can be challenging to enforce due to a number of factors including potential legal challenges and transfer arrangements which need to be made with the returning country.
In addition a person can make submissions to the Minister requesting for their case to be dealt with in Ireland which can further impact on the timeframes and numbers transferred.
My Department is committed to reducing processing times for international protection applicants and is taking steps to ensure that applications are dealt with as quickly as possible.
