International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18 ============================================================ Nicole Ryan (SF), Administrative Panel I move amendment No. 3: In page 16, after line 33, to insert the following: “Sovereignty of State in matters of international protection 2. (1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the sovereign authority of the State, exercised through the Oireachtas, to determine policy in respect of immigration and international protection. (2) No provision of this Act shall be interpreted as delegating such authority to any external body or institution without the express approval of the Oireachtas by primary legislation.”. I will speak to amendments Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, together. Amendment No. 3 addresses the issue of sovereignty in relation to the immigration and international protection policy. Ireland did have the option, under Protocol No. 21, to opt out of elements of the EU migration and asylum pact. That safeguard exists specifically to ensure that Ireland can retain control over policy decisions in the areas of freedom, security and justice where necessary. Despite this safeguard, the Government chose to opt in to the pact entirely. Sinn Féin opposed these decisions because we believe Ireland must retain the ability to shape migration policy in a way that reflects our own circumstances and legal framework. Ireland is not in the same position as any other EU member states. We are an island nation. We share the common travel area with Britain and our migration system operates within a unique legal and geographical context. The amendment does not attempt to reverse the Government's decision to opt in to the pact. What it does is reaffirm a basic democratic pipeline that the authority to determine immigration and international protection policy rests within the Irish State and is exercised through the Oireachtas. It ensures that nothing in this legislation can be interpreted as delegating that authority to any external institution unless the Oireachtas explicitly approves such a decision through primary legislation. In other words, this amendment protects democratic oversight. Amendment No. 4 builds on the previous amendment by introducing a mechanism for transparency and parliamentary oversight. Like I said, the Government chose to opt in to the EU migration and asylum pact, a framework that will shape the operation of our international protection system for years to come. However, what has been lacking from the Government's approach is transparency in how these obligations may evolve over time or how they may affect Ireland's legislative autonomy. This amendment will require the Minister to lay an annual report before the Oireachtas outlining three key issues: first, the extent to which Ireland's international protection system remains under domestic control; second, the obligation that arises from the EU or international agreements during the preceding year; and third, the steps taken by the Government to ensure what Irish sovereignty and democratic oversight are maintained. Such reporting mechanisms are not unusual. In many policy areas where the State operates within the international framework, regular reporting ensures the Oireachtas remains informed and able to exercise oversight. Given the scale of the changes introduced through the EU migration pact, such transparency is even more important than ever. This amendment would allow committees to examine the implications of these obligations and then ensure the Oireachtas remains actively engaged in oversight of how the system operates. Amendment No. 5 deals with what we believe is one of the most striking omissions in this legislation, namely, the absence of any comprehensive analysis of how the new asylum framework will interact with the common travel area. The common travel area is a long-standing agreement that allows for free movement between two jurisdictions. It is a central element of Ireland's immigration system, yet the Government has opted in to the EU migration pact without conducting a detailed assessment of how the new procedures and obligations will interact with that agreement. Ministers themselves have repeatedly stated that a significant proportion of international protection applicants arrive in Ireland through Britain. If that is the case, then the relationship between the EU migration framework and the common travel area becomes critically important. This amendment requires the Government to prepare and publish an assessment of the potential and actual impacts of this Act on the common travel area. That assessment would include analysis of the movement of persons between Ireland and Britain, consideration of the effect of international protection procedures on co-operation within the common travel area, and the evaluation of potential displacement effects within the system. It would also require consultation with relevant Departments and agencies responsible for immigration control and border management. Given the importance of the common travel area to Ireland's migration framework, this type of analysis should have been undertaken before the Government even decided to opt into the pact. This amendment simply seeks to ensure that is carried out. --- 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/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-18