As the House has heard from my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, the justice budget of €6.17 billion for 2026 will support a robust, rules-based immigration system. The additional funding for immigration and international protection will improve our systems, speeding up processing, strengthening the return and ensuring that Ireland is fully ready to implement the EU migration and asylum pact in June 2026. This budget ensures we have a firm, fair and effective immigration system that will also represent v…

That is not true.

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. The Minister has advised that Donegal courthouse will be closed temporarily as a result of health and safety concerns. Work has been ongoing with the Office of Public Works in order to determine the required works and the associated costs. The main and most serious safety issues relate to the entrances for both the public and courthouse users and the judge. Both of the ceilings in the public entrance porch have par…

The Senator has raised this very important issue and made his views very clear. I will make sure that they are passed on to and directly heard by the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, as regards the importance of maintaining the courthouse in Donegal. To provide an update, the Minister has indicated that the Courts Service is initially looking at a move to Ballyshannon on a temporary basis. That is approximately 20 km away and 20 minutes by car. I will point out the importance of looking for a suitable venue in Donegal…

I welcome the opportunity to address and talk about migration. We have seen the discourse on migration has become increasingly fraught right across the world, not just in Ireland, but here in Ireland we have not been immune to the impact of this polarising debate. We have seen anti-immigrant protests on our streets, stirred up by social media. We have seen the dark consequences of the anti-immigrant rhetoric in the shocking racist attacks on our minority communities. In particular, I want to express my deep concern…

I thank all of the Senators for their contributions. It has been a very interesting discussion, with a very interesting range of views expressed, some of which I would agree with and some I would have issues with. It is very important to restate some of the things I said in my contribution at the start. We must have a firm, fair and effective system concerning immigration and migration into our country. There is nothing wrong with saying or wanting that. It is important not to allow Members to misrepresent the fact…

As the Minister of State with responsibility for migration, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak this afternoon on what I believe is one of the most important issues facing our country, which is migration. As a Government we need to address this. We need address it with the spirit of integrity and of compassion, and with a rules-based approach, as the Minister said. One of the things that we here in Ireland have learned really clearly is that whether it is emigration or immigration, migration shapes a na…

I thank the Deputy for the question. It is a central priority for me, as Minister for State, that Ireland’s immigration system is firm, fair and effective. Returning people who do not have permission to remain in Ireland is undertaken through both voluntary returns and deportation. Both types of returns are essential for the system to work effectively and ensure confidence in the application of our legislation in this area. My Department has a voluntary return programme to assist people to return prior to the issua…

To clarify, if a person has left voluntarily, he or she must provide, on foot of a request, officials with documentary evidence within three days that they have left Ireland. If they do not do so, a deportation order can be issued. Of the 808 people who left by way of voluntary return this year up to 27 June, 615 had been refused international protection status. Since 2020, 2,300 people have left Ireland under the programme. Of these, just over 1,600 had been refused international protection status. In these instan…

The Deputy will be aware that we do not have an exit system for leaving our country. The reason is that there are various circumstances concerning how we manage people coming and going, particularly with the common travel area. We believe, based on clear indications, that the vast majority of people served with a deportation order do actually leave the country. The indication is that people who are served with a deportation order choose to leave. They leave voluntarily. The exact tracking of that, which would requi…

Last week, I was delighted to attend the citizenship ceremonies, along with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Collins. We welcomed more than 7,500 new Irish citizens. My Department is committed to providing the best possible service to the customers of our citizenship division. We have taken significant steps to speed up the process for applicants. The steps have included the introduction of an online digital application and e-vetting. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that these c…

Based on the trend in recent years, we probably will see either sustained or small increases in the number of applications. We are always looking at how the system works to try to make it work better and ensure people have a speedy response to their request. If we are looking at increased numbers, we will look at how we are handling and processing applications. It is important to mention again that we have already made substantial investment into the system. We have significantly reduced the average time an applica…

I acknowledge there is a gap between the ceremony and the receipt of certificate. We are working on trying to tighten up and make sure the process involves as short a wait as possible. To deal with the issues the Deputy quite rightly raises as regards the impact this can have on some individuals, the primary allocation of resources was into shortening the time for people to receive their citizenship. We will continuously look at this to ensure that the processing time for people to receive a certificate from the da…

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he mentioned, legal migration plays an essential and very positive role in Ireland's society and economy. Legal pathways are vital to addressing labour shortages in the economy. I have been working closely with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to ensure that Ireland's legal employment pathways are efficient and as convenient as possible. In May 2024, Government approval was secured for our plan to introduce a single permit to both work and live in Ireland. …

To give the Deputy an idea of what the next steps are, an implementation team has been established, chaired jointly with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which will commence implementation of the single permit model. The adoption of the single permit approach is expected to be done by 2027. The programme will be delivered on a phased basis. The new application platform will be developed with customer benefits in the shorter term. Shorter term actions will be taken to remove the duplication of d…

There is an ongoing process in the Department to reach out to try to simplify and put the application process in place. The answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". By 2027, it will be a complete one-stop shop and the process will be coming. That is the target date we are working towards for the completion of the process. In the intervening period, my counterpart in the Department of enterprise and I are willing to see what we can do to ensure that we have better engagement with sectors, where it is needed between…

I will begin by reiterating that it is a central priority of the Government that our immigration laws are robust and that they are enforced. Ireland is committed to the continued advancement of the common European asylum system to ensure a consistent, fair and sustainable asylum procedure at all times, not just at times of migratory pressure. Such a system demands a sharing of responsibility through mirrored approaches to migration and asylum across the European Union. This shared responsibility and shared process …

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 as regards the application of t…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to the transition out of temporary protection for displaced persons from U…

The two motions before the House seek the approval of Seanad Éireann to continue in force provisions in the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 aimed at combating terrorism and organised crime. Given the nature of these important provisions, the Houses of the Oireachtas have decided that they should be periodically reviewed. The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is required to lay reports before the Oireachtas on the use of the relevant provis…