International Protection Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-25 ============================================================ Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South I thank Senators for their contributions. I thank Senators Higgins, Ruane and Flynn for amendment No. 30. I thank Senator McCormack for amendment No. 58. I will deal specifically with amendment No. 30 in the first instance. The purpose of that amendment is to delete section 22(5). Subsection (5) permits gardaí to direct a person, who otherwise is excluded, to attend at a screening centre if the garda, immigration officer or an officer of mine believes it is in the interest of public policy or national security. I will correct a misunderstanding that I think Senator Higgins has in respect of section 22. I commend Senator Higgins on her knowledge of what is very detailed and complicated legislation. In her submission, Senator Higgins suggested that this could apply to somebody who is not an asylum applicant and that a person who could be in the country on a student visa or some other type of visa could be directed by a garda or an immigration officer to go to a screening centre. That cannot happen. The only way it can happen is if a person who is here, say, on a valid student visa, decides they are going to make an application for asylum. It only applies to an asylum applicant. If somebody has been here already on a student visa, in general, her or she does not have to go to a screening centre. In general, such persons do not have to give their biometric data. However, if it is the case that the officer or garda believes it is in the interest of public policy or national security that that person go to the screening centre, they can issue a direction. It is a very limited provision that operates in subsection (5). It is appropriate that if a garda or an immigration officer believes that it is necessary, on grounds of public policy or national security, for a person to go to a screening centre, that person should do so. The person is an applicant for international protection. An issue raised by Senator Ruane was in respect of the healthcare provided to international protection applicants. As the Senator will know from section 79, detailed provision is set out in respect of the nature of the healthcare that should be provided to an applicant. It sets out that the Minister for Health shall ensure that an applicant for international protection has access to such healthcare as is necessary. It is set out in considerable detail over approximately two pages. Senator Ruane raised the point about somebody who goes through the process, fails in their application, is sent a deportation order and does not comply with it and who is sick and whose healthcare comes to a stop. The Irish health system is very sympathetic and empathetic if a person - and I have not encountered this - is in a seriously ill condition. The empathy and sympathy of the health service would come into play in respect of such cases. However, I cannot put into a statutory regime an entitlement for a person who has been served with a deportation order to receive healthcare and-or to receive any other social services to which they are not entitled. That brings me on to the point raised by Senator Flynn. The Senator criticised the Bill. The Department of justice is not responsible for the Bill. I am responsible for it. In fairness to the officials in the Department, they are just carrying out the political objective of the Minister. This is a Government Bill; it is my Bill. If I instructed the officials to produce a Bill which is extraordinarily restrictive, they would do so. If I instructed them to prepare a Bill which is extraordinarily liberal, they would also do so. In respect of what Senator Flynn said, everyone comes to the topic of asylum and international protection from their own political perspective. I do so, as does everyone else in this House does as well. It is, however, a complicated and complex issue, particularly at this time we are living in at the beginning of the 21st century. As I have said before, it is very much a defining issue for the first part of the 21st century. It is an issue that, particularly in Ireland, we are grappling with as to how we deal with it. The displacement of people is an extraordinary global issue. I have to sought to ensure that I take into account, pay respect to and seek to defend the human rights of applicants who are coming here and claiming asylum. That is part of my responsibility. People here are perfectly entitled just to focus on that side of the balancing act. However, as Minister, I also have to take into account the other side of the balancing act. This is not an issue about trying to balance different political views. It is about the impact that significant processing of applications can have on the receiving state. We have seen the impact it has had in Ireland in terms of the pressure to which it gives rise in the context of providing accommodation centres and in terms of the number of applications being processed. It takes a very lengthy period to process applications. That can be unfair to people who can be stuck in Ireland for years while trying to have their applications resolved. I recognise that it can be very unfair on somebody who has been here for years while their application and appeal are being processed and who is then told to leave. I have tried to balance those two different factors. It is difficult. I have no doubt that I probably have not got the balance right. People on one side of the House will say that I have gone too much in one direction, while those on the other side will say that I have gone too much in the other direction. It is a difficult balancing act, but it is important that there is a balancing act. I cannot just say, "Listen, my objective here is to vindicate and protect the human rights of applicants who come in and that is the sole focus I will have." I cannot do that. There would be no point in having an asylum process in such circumstances because in the context of anyone who comes in and says that they are an asylum applicant, the necessary consequence is that they are entitled to stay. I cannot do that. Similarly, I cannot have a system, which is the case in some European countries, where they simply do not process applications. People just do not go to certain countries because they know that if they do, they will not be able to get their asylum applications processed. Ireland is probably renowned as being one of the fairer countries in terms of processing asylum applications. It is going to get even more fair after 12 June when this legislation comes into effect. What will happen is that applications will be processed in a much speedier fashion. That has to be to the benefit of everyone. I do not believe that the quality of assessment will decline because of the speed imposed upon it. The Department is already doing a pilot project in respect of it. People need to know that if they are coming to Ireland and they are claiming asylum that they will have their applications dealt with and adjudicated promptly and fairly. If someone comes to Ireland to claim asylum and is not entitled to it, however, he or she will not get it. We need to be fair and inform people that if they put forward stories that are not accurate and they are not fleeing persecution or war, they will not be allowed to stay in Ireland. If, however, someone is fleeing persecution or war, his or her asylum application will be granted and he or she will be able to stay. We are very generous in respect of this. The amendment tabled by Senator McCormack gives an indication of the different sides of the political perspective on this issue. The Senator's amendment states that there should be a requirement for applicants to provide information as to whether they previously entered or resided in the State on a student permission or employment permit. We will have that information. If somebody gives their correct identity, we will know whether they have been in the State previously by way of a student permission, an employment permit or a short-stay tourist visa. The Department has a lot of information in respect of these issues. Data is extremely important in respect of dealing with this matter. It is not set down to give people an opportunity to close it. --- 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/2026-03-25/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:46+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-25