International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage Dail Éireann — 2026-01-28 ============================================================ Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am very pleased to introduce the International Protection Bill 2026 to the House. Migration has been a distinctive feature of Ireland’s history. Few countries in Europe have been as affected by emigration over the past two centuries as Ireland, with millions having left in search of safe haven, economic prosperity and opportunities not afforded to them at home. In recent years, we have become a country that is able to provide the opportunities those who emigrated once sought. We are a safe and successful country with a vibrant economy, which has meant that people from across the globe want to come to Ireland in search of a better life. Over the years, we have seen the invaluable contribution that foreign-born workers have made in Ireland. These include workers in our healthcare system, hospitality industry, construction sector and tech industry. Each of these sectors has benefited from, and relies on, the excellent work provided by migrants who have come to Ireland to work. This Government is very clear about the value of migration to Ireland. The vast majority of people coming to Ireland are here to work or study. This Government also fundamentally believes in the right to claim asylum. We will always uphold our obligation on this important principle of international law for the sake of those who need our protection. At the same time, migration and asylum have given rise to challenges not only for Ireland, but across the EU. Migration and asylum are shared challenges that are increasingly difficult for any one country to deal with acting alone in a globalised and interdependent world. In 2025, my Department received approximately 13,000 applications for international protection. Although this is down 30% from the 2024 figure of 18,500, it is clear that issues will arise when attempting to deal with large numbers of international protection applicants in a system that was not designed to handle such demand. Decisions have historically taken far too long. This situation benefits no one. It does not serve applicants who are granted international protection, who face challenges in integrating into Irish society due to these delays; it does not benefit the State to have increasingly high demands placed on an already stretched accommodation system; and it undermines public confidence in the systems and agencies designed to provide effective protection to those who need it. The challenges we currently face in providing an asylum system that is fit for purpose are shared by other EU member states. The overall objective of the migration and asylum pact is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the EU. It is for these reasons that I am introducing the International Protection Bill 2026. This Bill delivers on the programme for Government commitment to implement the regulations and directives agreed by the EU by 12 June 2026. This Bill represents the most significant reform of Irish asylum laws in the history of the State. It will put in place a new framework to manage migration and asylum for the long term. It will improve decision-making structures within the international protection system and provide faster timelines for the processing of international protection applications. The overall objective of the Bill is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure that is consistent with how asylum laws operate across the EU. In that context, I would like to address the recommendation of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, which is chaired by Deputy Carthy and of which Deputy Gannon is a member, in its pre-legislative scrutiny report that opting out of the majority of the EU migration and asylum pact be reconsidered. The pact and the Bill introduce faster processing of asylum claims with a much more efficient decision-making system. Faster processing will mean that applicants spend less time in International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, centres and will significantly reduce the cost of the asylum system to the State. Faster decision-making will also mean that successful applicants will be granted international protection sooner and those whose applications are refused can be returned to their country of origin sooner. Having a common system across the EU makes sure that all applicants are treated the same in every member state, with no incentive to move from one to another. If Ireland had not opted in to the pact, it is likely that we would face higher levels of secondary movement, slower processing and a less efficient returns system. This would result in applicants staying in the system for much longer, at much greater cost to the State in terms of the provision of accommodation and other supports. If Members say that we should not have opted in to the regulations and directives associated with the EU migration pact, they should then recognise there is still an ability for them to put into this Bill what they say they would like to see in it. I am conscious that Deputy Carthy will, I suspect, say that he would not have opted in to the pact. That may very well be the position of Sinn Féin but there is an obligation on Deputy Carthy and Sinn Féin to state what measures they would like to see in this legislation that are not in it at present. We can just ignore the pact and decide what Members want to put into the Bill that is not in it at present. That is something that would focus minds on whether or not this is the best method of reforming the asylum process, and I believe it is. It is for all these reasons that the Government and both Houses of the Oireachtas have given approval in accordance with the Constitution for Ireland to opt in to these measures. The proposal to opt-in was debated at length in the Houses before the opt-in motions were approved. It is difficult, therefore, to understand how the joint committee made the recommendation it did. I should add that it would not be legally possible to seek to opt out even if that was the democratic wish of the Houses of the Oireachtas. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-28/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-28