International Protection Bill 2026: From the Seanad
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

To fly from a country outside the EU into the UK, you would need a visa to enter the UK. If you are coming, say, from an Asian or African country, where there are a lot of international protection applicants, in general, you will need a visa. There are some countries for which the UK provides lots of visas. You can see that in our numbers. I am not going to start naming countries now because people will say I am picking on one country, but there are certain countries to which the UK readily gives out visas. The numbers of people from those countries applying for international protection in Ireland are quite high and we believe there is a correlation in respect of that.
To answer the Deputy's question, there is a lot of co-operation between the Home Office and the Department of Justice. They have access to some information in respect of EU applications, but the Deputy's question was about somebody who does not initially go near the EU but goes from a country outside the EU into the UK and then across the Border. If somebody comes down here and indicates that he or she has come from the UK, there is a mechanism for us to apply to the UK to find out information about that person. There is sharing of information.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15