Tom Brabazon
Question:779. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of emergency calls taken by An Garda Síochána in each of the years 2020 to 2024, and to date in 2025. [63354/25]
View answerAn Garda Síochána
Questions (779)
Written answers
The Garda authorities have provided the below table which outlines the number of emergency calls received at each Regional Control Centre (RCC). I'm informed that the figures below do not capture calls for service which are not considered to be emergency in nature.
|
Year |
Dublin Metropolitan RCC |
Eastern RCC |
North Western RCC |
Southern RCC |
National |
|
2020 |
226,700 |
71,696 |
69,725 |
73,026 |
441,147 |
|
2021 |
225,877 |
77,985 |
69,647 |
72,684 |
446,193 |
|
2022 |
275,121 |
80,353 |
70,273 |
80,515 |
506,262 |
|
2023 |
279,073 |
100,714 |
86,614 |
102,124 |
568,525 |
|
2024 |
278,204 |
126,815 |
107,249 |
126,550 |
638,818 |
|
2025 (YTD) |
236,646 |
111,177 |
93,338 |
112,700 |
553,861 |
|
Total |
1,521,621 |
568,740 |
496,846 |
567,599 |
3,154,806 |
An Garda Síochána operates a Regional Control Room strategy which ensures that Garda resources are available to respond to calls for service from the public, including situations where a local resource is not immediately available.
Calls for service, whether received through a local Garda station or the 999 ECAS system, are routed through the Regional Control Rooms and prioritised for response. Higher priority calls will always take priority over lower priority calls.
The Garda authorities inform me that An Garda Síochána aim is to answer 80% of 999 calls within 7 seconds and deploy resources immediately giving an estimated time of arrival.
The Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for all operational policing matters, including response by An Garda Síochána to emergency calls.
International Protection
Questions (780)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:780. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the reason a person (details supplied), who created an alias to avoid deportation and used it falsely to claim social welfare, has been allowed to remain in Ireland; the number of persons who have broken the law while in the IPAS application system that have been allowed to stay in the State, for each of the past five years; and the number of persons who have broken the law after receiving a deportation order that have been allowed to stay in the State for each of the past five years. [63418/25]
View answerWritten answers
It is important to note that, as Minister, I do not comment on individual cases.
It is a central priority for me as Minister that our immigration laws are robust and enforced. The removal of people in the immigration system who are involved in criminality or who are a danger to society is an essential requirement for the system to work effectively and to ensure that our people have confidence in the application of our laws in this area.
Any permission granted an immigration permission can have that permission revoked if they fail to obey the laws of the State or become involved in criminal activity.
My officials work closely with members of An Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service to ensure high risk persons are prioritised for removal from Ireland and this takes place on an ongoing basis. Information on the overall number of instances of persons committing an offence while in the international protection system or after having been served a deportation order is not, however, readily available.
International Protection
Questions (781)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:781. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if there are any plans to enter into a contract for an IPAS centre, or any other accommodation centre, at a location (details supplied).; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63431/25]
View answerWritten answers
My Department's International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) is not currently examining any property for future use as international protection accommodation in Navan, County Meath.
There are a number of existing accommodation centres in the Navan area providing accommodation for people fleeing the war in Ukraine, or for international protection applicants.
While the Department does not publish specific locations of accommodation centres, the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) provides accommodation in almost 320 centres around the country, and publishes regular statistics in relation to international protection accommodation. This includes a per county breakdown of where applicants are residing and a wide range of other details.
These statistics are located on the Gov.ie website:
www.gov.ie/en/international-protection-accommodation-services-ipas/collections/statistics-2004-to-2025/#latest-ipas-statistics-weekly-report.
Proposed Legislation
Questions (782)
Marie Sherlock
Question:782. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the work his Department is planning to take to introduce new regulations and act upon the recommendations of the Report of the Interdepartmental Working Group into the period payment orders indexation rate; when such regulations will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63478/25]
View answerWritten answers
As the Deputy will be aware, Periodic Payment Orders (PPOs) are an alternative to lump sum awards as a method of paying compensation to catastrophically injured people. Instead of receiving compensation in one tranche, a payment is made annually on an agreed date. The annual payment amount is calculated to meet the cost of permanent and long-term care and treatment. An indexation rate is applied to the annual payment amount to ensure that the amount keeps pace with inflation.
A Working Group on the Indexation rate for Periodic Payment Orders, to advise on an appropriate index, was established following a High Court determination that the index used in primary legislation was unworkable. As part of a two-stage process, the primary legislation governing PPOs has been amended to allow for the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to set the rate by way of secondary legislation.
The recommendations of the Working Group that the Periodic Payment Index should comprise a combination of harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) and Annual Rate of Change (ARC) in nominal hourly health earnings for the health sector were subsequently approved. Drafting of the necessary regulations is at an advanced stage and I hope to be able to bring the regulations into operation shortly.
Immigration Status
Questions (783)
Niamh Smyth
Question:783. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will review correspondence (details supplied); the options available to regularise the person’s immigration status to allow them to continue their education and take up employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63481/25]
View answerWritten answers
I can advise the Deputy that a Stamp 3 immigration permission is granted to dependent children of Employment Permit holders, people in the state as Ministers of Religion and volunteers working with charitable organisations.
A Stamp 3 immigration permission does not prevent the holder from engaging in study, however, they do not have the same rights to work as students on a Stamp 2 immigration permission. Stamp 2 holders are allowed to take up casual employment, up to 20 hours a week during term time and up to 40 hours a week in the holidays.
A Stamp 3 holder is permitted to undertake an internship once it forms part of their course, contributes to the final course award, and the course is listed on the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP). This would be regarded as part of their studies and not considered employment.
Where the holder of a Stamp 3 permission wishes to move to a Stamp 2 student permission, they can apply to my Department with the necessary documentation– an acceptance letter from a school/college, evidence of private medical insurance and evidence of finances.
Detailed information on how to change immigration status is available on the Immigration Service website at: www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/changing-your-immigration-permission/.
Finally, Stamp 3 holders may apply for an Employment Permit in their own right if they wish to work in Ireland. Matters relating to employment permits are a matter for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Further information relating to employment permits can be found on that Department's website, www.enterprise.gov.ie
As an Oireachtas member, the Deputy can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.
International Protection
Questions (784)
Cormac Devlin
Question:784. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of persons who applied for international protection in the State from 2015 to date in 2025, by year, by country of origin, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63532/25]
View answerWritten answers
I am fully committed to ensuring that Ireland’s International Protection system is robust, and rules based, and that our borders are protected.
The number of International Protection applications have been rising over the past number of years, reaching 18,500 in 2024. This year, we are beginning to see application numbers noticeably reduce with 34% fewer compared with the same period in 2024.
There has been a significant increase in investment into the international protection system which, combined with digitisation and process reengineering, has facilitated a major increase in processing capacity.
In 2024, the International Protection Office (IPO) delivered over 14,000 first decisions compared to over 8,500 in 2023, while the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) closed around 3,100 appeals in 2024 compared to over 1,700 in 2023.
In 2025, to the end of Q3, there has been a 51% increase in the total number of first decisions when compared to the same period in 2024. The IPAT has also increased the number of appeals completed to date in 2025 by 44% over the full year figure for 2024 with ongoing recruitment of Tribunal Members to increase its decision-making capacity.
My Department also continues to focus on preparing for the EU Migration and Asylum Pact in advance of June 2026. The Pact will provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the EU including standardised processing times for decisions: six months for a standard procedure, three months for accelerated and border procedures and two months for processing applicants who have applied for protection elsewhere in Europe.
The General Scheme of a new International Protection Bill to give effect to the measures of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact was approved by Government on 29 April 2025. The General Scheme has been published and referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for pre-legislative scrutiny. The drafting of the Bill is underway.
Enactment of the Bill and commencement of the Act is required by 11 June 2026.
The attached table details the number of International Protection applications made from 2015 up to 12 November 2025, by year and country of origin.
International Protection
Questions (785)
Cormac Devlin
Question:785. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of persons who have been granted temporary protection in the State from 2015 to date in 2025, by year, by country of origin, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63533/25]
View answerWritten answers
Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection hold temporary permission to remain in Ireland, renewable annually for as long as the Directive remains in force.
On 15 July 2025, the Justice and Home Affairs Council extended Temporary Protection by a year until March 2027, providing certainty for beneficiaries who can continue to avail of the protections that the Directive provides.
Under Article 2, the Temporary Protection Directive applies to the following groups of people who have had to flee Ukraine due to the invasion by Russia:
a. Ukrainian nationals who were residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022;
b. Nationals of a third country (other than Ukraine) or a stateless person who would have benefited from international protection (for example: Refugee status) or an equivalent national protection status in Ukraine and were residing there before 24 February 2022;
c. Family members of persons covered by a) and b), where their family already existed in Ukraine, prior to 24 February.
The table below shows the number and nationality of people who have been granted temporary protection in the State from March 2022 up to 16 November 2025. In that time, temporary protection was granted to 122,379 individuals of whom 99% (121,123) were Ukrainian citizens and the remainder were third country nationals.
635 have voluntarily withdrawn from Temporary Protection which involves returning the original Temporary Protection Certificate.
As there are no routine exit checks on people leaving the State it is not possible to say how many beneficiaries of temporary protection have left Ireland in total. However, the Deputy may also wish to be aware that the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has a publication which focuses on the estimated number of Ukrainians present in the country and can be accessed here: www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/fp/p-aui/arrivalsfromukraineinirelandseries16/
*Please note that there is no data collected prior to 3 March 2022 as the Temporary Protection Directive came into effect 4 March 2022.
**It is the policy of my Department not to release numbers where there are 5 or less in respect of any nationality, as there is a possibility that a person may be identifiable by releasing such information.
Please note all figures are correct at time of issue and may be subject to data cleansing.
|
Nationality |
2022* |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Ukraine |
68,484 |
32,725 |
10,394 |
9,520 |
|
Nigeria |
282 |
27 |
9 |
5 |
|
Russian Federation |
135 |
62 |
9 |
5 |
|
Georgia |
72 |
12 |
5 |
|
|
Afghanistan |
39 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
Moldova, Republic Of |
36 |
14 |
5 |
5 |
|
Syrian Arab Republic |
33 |
6 |
|
5 |
|
Somalia |
26 |
|
|
|
|
Egypt |
24 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
Tajikistan |
23 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
Kenya |
22 |
|
|
|
|
Pakistan |
20 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
Türkiye |
16 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
Uzbekistan |
16 |
13 |
5 |
7 |
|
Armenia |
14 |
5 |
|
5 |
|
Azerbaijan |
14 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
Belarus |
14 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
United States Of America |
14 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
India |
13 |
5 |
|
|
|
Sudan |
13 |
|
|
|
|
Ghana |
11 |
|
|
5 |
|
Algeria |
7 |
5 |
|
|
|
Iran (Islamic Republic Of) |
7 |
|
|
5 |
|
Jordan |
7 |
5 |
|
|
|
Ethiopia |
6 |
|
|
|
|
Morocco |
6 |
|
|
5 |
|
Bangladesh |
5 |
5 |
|
5 |
|
Canada |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
Iraq |
5 |
5 |
|
5 |
|
Israel |
5 |
5 |
|
5 |
|
Kazakhstan |
5 |
6 |
|
|
|
State of Palestine |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
Zimbabwe |
5 |
5 |
|
|
|
Stateless |
5 |
5 |
|
|
|
Other** |
58 |
17 |
2 |
2 |
|
Total |
69,449 |
32,929 |
10,446 |
9,555 |
International Protection
Questions (786, 787, 788, 789)
Cormac Devlin
Question:786. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration in respect of applicants for international protection who claimed to be under 18 years-of-age, the number in each of the years 2015 to date in 2025, b for whom minor status was accepted, rejected or remained under determination at year end, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63534/25]
View answerCormac Devlin
Question:787. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of international protection applicants in each of the years 2015 to date in 2025 whose claimed minor status was referred to, or appealed to, medical or other expert reviewers for the purposes of age assessment; the outcome of those referrals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63535/25]
View answerCormac Devlin
Question:788. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the current arrangements in place for assessing the age of persons who claim to be minors when seeking international protection or temporary protection, including the role of his Department, the International Protection Office and Tusla; whether these arrangements are under review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63536/25]
View answerCormac Devlin
Question:789. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has examined the age-assessment model in operation in Denmark, including the use of medical imaging and other scientific methods, with a view to speeding up age assessments in Ireland; if any analysis, advice or reports have been prepared on this option; if any novel testing methods such as qPCR or droplet digital PCR based techniques for age estimation have been considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63537/25]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 786, 787, 788 and 789 together.
It has not been possible to collate the information requested by the Deputy in the time available. I will write to the Deputy directly once the information is to hand.
Question No. 787 answered with Question No. 786.
Question No. 788 answered with Question No. 786.
Question No. 789 answered with Question No. 786.
Ministerial Responsibilities
Questions (790)
Cormac Devlin
Question:790. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if a matter (details supplied) has been brought to his attention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63546/25]
View answerWritten answers
I can advise the Deputy that in cases where incomplete naturalisation applications are received, the application is returned to the applicant with a request to provide the missing documentation within 28 days. A reminder is issued after 18 days if the required documentation has still not been provided.
The naturalisation application cited was returned to the person concerned as it was incomplete, and a request for further documentation issued from my Department. The person cited did not supply the requested documentation, therefore, the application was deemed ineligible and subsequently closed.
It is open to the person cited to make a new application at any time. There is no time limit within which they can make a new application, nor is there any maximum limit on the number of applications.
To maintain the integrity of the file on record, Citizenship division do not return documentation submitted. However, should applicants wish to lodge a new application, they may request all relevant documents previously submitted to be associated with the new application.
Citizenship Division have produced a guidance document for all potential applicants which outlines which documents are required for the application. This document is published on my Department's Irish Immigration website and is available here: www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Citizenship-Guidance-Document-April-2024.pdf
Detailed information on how to apply for naturalisation and other resources is available here: www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/.
As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.