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

The purpose of Seanad amendment No. 58 is to give further effect to procedures regulation provisions relating to non-entry to the State of applicants subject to the asylum border procedure. Article 43.1 of that regulation provides that the asylum border procedure may be applied only where an applicant has not yet been authorised to enter the state. It is necessary to provide in the Bill for the distinction under the asylum procedures regulation between asylum border procedure applicants and other categories of applicants.
Subsection (1) provides that following the screening carried out under Part 2, I as Minister shall give applicants an authorisation to enter the State for the sole purpose of having their application examined. This provision is very similar to the current provision in section 16 of the 2015 Act.
Subsection (2) clarifies that an authorisation to enter shall not be given to applicants who no longer have a right to remain in the State because they made subsequent applications to delay or frustrate their removal from the State or because they are considered a danger to public order or national security, or those applicants who do not have the right to remain pending their appeal to the tribunal. The other category of applicants who shall not be authorised to enter are those whose applications are being examined under the asylum border procedure. There are exceptions to allow for an applicant to be permitted to enter the State when the deadline for the asylum border procedure expires and the applicant has not received a final decision on their application and for those applicants for whom the inadmissibility of accelerated procedure no longer apply. Exceptions apply also for applicants whose special reception or special procedural needs cannot be met in the border procedure or where there are medical reasons for not applying the asylum border procedure.
Subsection (3) provides that the Minister may revoke an authorisation given to an applicant where the determining authority becomes aware an applicant poses a national security or public order threat. In such cases, once the authorisation is revoked the applicant will be deemed never to have been given an authorisation. This is to ensure that even if an applicant was initially authorised to enter the State and their application is being examined under a different procedure, when information relevant to public order or national security comes to light at a later stage that applicant can be placed in the asylum border procedure with its associated restrictions of freedom of movement.
Seanad amendments Nos. 60 and 157 are technical amendments introduced to clarify cross-references to the new section proposed to be inserted by Seanad amendment No. 58.

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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