Council of the European Union Decision: Motions Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23 ============================================================ Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South I thank the three Deputies for their contributions. I welcome that all parties in the House are supporting the opt-in to the proposal in terms of the signing and execution of the agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea. It is clearly the case that PNR data is extremely important in combating serious crime. When we look at the agreements with third countries that have been opted into by Ireland, we can see that it is effective for us to ensure that we are at the forefront of combating such crime. Deputy Carthy referred to how what is proposed will apply to ferries. He is correct in stating that it only applies to air travel passengers at present. Obviously, neither I nor Ireland can, of our own accord, decide that we are going to extend it to boats or maritime travel. That requires an agreement by the European Union and a measure being put in place by the European Union. The European Commission has published feasibility studies that examine the possible use of advanced passenger information from land and maritime travel operators. Ireland does not have the applicable long-distance rail or road routes. We will continue to monitor developments on maritime travel arising from these studies. The Commission may make proposals in the future following the evaluation of the current PNR directive. It would be appropriate that we extend it to maritime travel. Deputy Carthy also spoke about a PNR not being available for migration. That is correct; it is only available for the investigation of serious offences, terrorist offences. If I was here saying that PNR data was going to be used for the purpose of migration, I suspect it would not have the level of agreement that we have in the House in respect of the PNR data. I agree with the Deputy that it would be much easier for me, as Minister for justice, to manage migration and immigration into Ireland if we had a united island. The practicality of it is we do not. Because there are two jurisdictions on the island and because we all want there to be an open border between those two jurisdictions, it means that people can come and go freely. That is the way it is and there is nothing that can be done in respect of that. I agree with him that if we had a reunified Ireland, it would be easier for everyone North and South to be able to manage migration in the way that other countries such as Australia are able to manage it. The Deputy referred to the returns agreement. I will be meeting the British Home Secretary on Saturday. I have spoken to her on many occasions. The issue of returns is an item that will be on the agenda. However, when we look at the statistics that have arisen since we signed up to the International Protection Act which commenced on 12 June, there has been a significant reduction in the number of people claiming asylum in Ireland. I will give the Deputy the statistics. For the first six months of this year, over 1,000 people applied for international protection in Ireland in each month with the exception of March when it was 920. For the other five months it was over 1,000. In July it was 722, in August it was 756 and for this month up to 20 September it is 496. Since the International Protection Act, or the migration pact as the Deputy calls it, commenced on 12 June, the numbers coming in have reduced. It shows that the only way to effectively respond to illegal or irregular migration is through international co-operation. I also thank Deputy Gannon for his support. I have no difficulty coming into the Dáil to talk about protected disclosures. This has been said. There is Government time and there is Opposition time. If he wants to use Social Democrats time to discuss it, I will be here. I do not know if I will be here on Wednesday and Thursday of next week because I have European commitments. However, if he tables it on Tuesday, I will be here. Part of the issue with projected disclosures is - this is not a makey-uppy issue - section 16 of the Act states that it is a criminal offence for a person to whom a protected disclosure is made to reveal the identity of the person making it. That applies even if the person has decided to reveal their own identity. The only exception is if I have the explicit consent of the individual concerned. That is something I am looking at in light of an interview that took place yesterday. I am seeking legal advice in respect of it. I am happy to give as much information as I can. --- 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/2026-09-23/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-23