Alan Kelly
Question:371. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice the amount of funding provided towards Garda airport liaison officers in the years of 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [40124/24]
View answerTuesday, 8 October 2024
Questions (371)
Written answers
The Border Management Unit (BMU) in my Department and the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) are working closely with airlines on a range of measures to ensure that passengers have the required documentation when boarding. This includes delivering in-person training to relevant airline ground-handling staff on immigration requirements and false travel documentation. BMU officials are also available 24/7 to assist airlines with any immigration queries.
Up to the end of September, BMU and GNIB have carried out over 6,000 doorstop operations at aircraft to detect passengers who destroyed documents inflight and to identify the point of embarkation of undocumented passengers. My Department has recorded a 34% reduction in 2023 in the number of persons arriving in the State without the correct documentation. 2024 has seen a further reduction in the numbers arriving without documentation.
My Department has committed to provide specific funding to An Garda Síochána (AGS) for a programme to assign Garda Airline Liaison Officers (ALO) to European Transport Hubs to prevent irregular migration. GNIB deployed in one high-risk airport with effect from 1 March 2023. The deployment of this ALO has resulted in a significant decrease in individuals who do not meet travel requirements from entering the State from the designated airport. GNIB continue to explore option to extend these operations into other European airport hubs.
The funding to date provided to AGS for this programme is as follows (this funding is provided by my Department; this does not include wages and other costs which are borne from the Garda Budget and are not included here):
|
Year |
Amount |
|
2023 |
€46,360.42 |
|
2024 (year to date) |
€31,781.40 |
Note: As the programme commenced in 2023, there is no expenditure for 2022.