Family Reunification
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-27
============================================================

Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central

Again, I am very specifically referring to the refugee family reunification scheme. We have a high bar in this country already to achieve refugee status. In order to achieve that, the person needs to demonstrate that they fled war or persecution or that their family is from a place where loss of life would have been a possibility or where there is a direct threat to life. It is actually only 669 people and it is immediate spouse, your wife, your husband, your child or, in the case of a child that has come here, it is just their parent. There is already an 18-month wait for the family reunification scheme. If a child comes here unaccompanied at the age of 15 or 16, they would have to wait three years, so they have already timed out of the system.
I do not doubt that the Minister has a difficult job but for this particular policy change, I do not think it is reflective of a fair or just system. There is still time to change; I understand the Minister is bringing through amendments to the International Protection Bill. I would ask him that maybe we should just reflect on this scheme, taking all the others out and dealing with them individually. This one aids integration and helps the person who has already proven their status beyond a very high bar.

---

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/dail/2026-01-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-27