Common Travel Area
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

The basis upon which we think the greatest number of those claiming asylum in Ireland are coming from the UK is the number arriving at the International Protection Office. This year, 90% of people who have claimed asylum in Ireland did so at the IPO. That leads us to believe they are coming across the Border with Northern Ireland. It is a huge challenge whether we are in the migration pact or not. The simplistic view sometimes put forward is that if we had not gone into the migration pact, we would not have this issue. We would have this issue because of our land border with the United Kingdom and the common travel area. We need to emphasise that people who are not citizens of Ireland, the UK or the Channel Islands are not allowed to travel back and forth across the Border on the island of Ireland. We also need to recognise that I have discussed the issue of data sharing with the British Home Secretary and will reach agreement with her on that. That is extremely important in resolving abuses of the common travel area, as are operational measures between An Garda Síochána, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Border Force. As to getting a written agreement with the British, I cannot force the British Government to enter into an agreement to take back asylum applicants from the Republic.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19