Tuesday, 18 Nov 2025

Deportation Orders

Ceisteanna (751)

Robert Troy

Ceist:

751. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if a deportation order will be urgently reconsidered (details supplied). [63060/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I can advise that the person referred to by the Deputy is the subject of a deportation order.

A deportation order is a legal order to leave the State. Any person who has been ordered to leave the State and fails to do so is committing a criminal offence. Such an order remains on the person’s record permanently, unless revoked by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

My Department can consider requests to revoke a deportation order under Section 3(11) of Immigration Act 1999. Any application for a deportation order to be revoked should set out new or changed circumstances that were not previously presented.

Further information about this process is available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situation-has-changed-since-i-arrived-in-ireland/repatriation-division/

Following consideration of such a request, the existing deportation order will be either ‘affirmed’ or ‘revoked’. Once such a decision has been made, this will be notified to the applicant in writing.

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.

International Protection

Ceisteanna (752, 753, 754)

Paul Lawless

Ceist:

752. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of non-national individuals who have entered the State who have a previous criminal conviction. [63093/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Paul Lawless

Ceist:

753. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the steps he takes to identify individuals entering the State to ensure a thorough background check is being carried out. [63094/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Paul Lawless

Ceist:

754. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the process which is carried out to confirm the identity of an individual who enters the State without identification. [63095/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I propose to take Questions Nos. 752, 753 and 754 together.

Implementing effective border security arrangements is a priority for me as Minister. The Programme for Government commits to developing a border security strategy to deliver stronger border security, ensuring technology supports border screening and to reviewing the potential of extending pre-clearance mechanisms, such as electronic travel authorisation, for travel from designated third countries. This work is underway.

I can advise the Deputy that the establishment of a person’s identity is an important feature of the Irish immigration process.

At ports of entry, Immigration officials conduct passport checks, and run operations as required, to ensure passengers arriving in the State are properly documented in accordance with the Immigration Act 2004.

When a non-EEA national presents at border control, an Immigration Officer must determine whether that person should be granted leave to land and gain entry to the State. Section 4(3) of the Immigration Act 2004 sets out the full range of grounds on which a person may be refused.

In performing their duties, an Officer is required to consider all of the circumstances of the individual at the time of entry; this will include if the person has an alert on the Schengen Information System (SIS) II. For security reasons and to protect the integrity of the immigration system, neither I nor my Department can comment on specific operational procedures of the Border Management Unit (BMU) or the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), including on the operation of SIS II.

The SIS II, allows for an easy exchange of information between national border control authorities, customs and police authorities on people who may have been involved in a serious crime. It also contains alerts on missing persons, in particular children, as well as information on certain property, such as banknotes, cars, vans, firearms and identity documents that may have been stolen, misappropriated or lost.

My Department does not record the number of people granted leave to land and who have a criminal conviction.

Additionally, I can advise the Deputy the EU Migration and Asylum Pact introduces mandatory processing times for International Protection applications. Ireland along with other Member States will be required to process applications in 3 months for an accelerated decision. This will apply to, amongst others, people who have misled authorities such as by destroying identity documents.

The General Scheme of a new International Protection Bill to give effect to the measures of the Pact was approved by Government on 29 April 2025. The drafting of the Bill is well advanced. It is expected that the Bill will be published by the end of the year. Enactment of the Bill and commencement of the Act is required by 11 June 2026.

In relation to screening under the Pact, Ireland is not participating in the 2024 Screening Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1356), which is a Schengen measure, but the International Protection Bill will seek to appropriately align with that Regulation. Applicants for international protection will be required to undergo screening at a screening centre following their arrival in the State. One of the key purposes of screening is to verify the identity of an international protection applicant and to assess whether an applicant might pose a threat to internal security. This will be done by the examination of documentation, the taking of biometric data, and checks against relevant databases.

My Department and An Garda Síochána are also 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 available 24/7 to assist airlines with any immigration queries.

BMU and An Garda Síochána have an ongoing intelligence-led programme of operations at airplanes to detect passengers who destroyed documents inflight and to identify the point of embarkation of undocumented passengers. Last year in 2024, the BMU have carried out over 7,300 doorstep operations at Dublin Airport. Up to the end of October of this year, 5125 doorstep operations have been conducted by the BMU.

Question No. 753 answered with Question No. 752.

Question No. 754 answered with Question No. 752.

International Protection

Ceisteanna (755)

Gary Gannon

Ceist:

755. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of international protection applicants who have not been offered accommodation on arrival in each month to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63126/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

Ireland is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people seeking international protection in nearly 320 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country.

Due to severe shortages of accommodation over recent years, from December 2023, the State was unable to offer accommodation to all people seeking international protection.

My Department manages a limited supply of accommodation, prioritising people with families or who have specific health needs or other vulnerabilities. This means that single male applicants are most affected by accommodation pressures.

From January to October 2025, the following numbers of single male applicants were not offered accommodation on arrival.

Most of these applicants whose case remains active have subsequently been made an offer of accommodation, as outlined below.

Month	Applicants not offered accommodation on arrival
January	342
February	359
March	301
April	402
May	296
June	309
July	351
August	317
September	407
October	417

People who are not offered accommodation are given a weekly allowance of €113.80 per week, an increase of €75 more than the standard weekly allowance for asylum-seekers.

While most unaccommodated people are not rough-sleeping, IPAS has arrangements in place with a range of NGO partners to provide drop-in day services for unaccommodated people who are. This means people can access facilities including hot showers, meals and laundry services.

IPAS can also makes offers of accommodation to any applicant who is rough sleeping, identified through outreach that is organised 7 days a week through a homeless NGO partner organisation.

While the demand for IPAS accommodation remains high, the reduced rate of new applications has meant that since March 2025, IPAS has been able to review the cases of people who were awaiting an offer of accommodation and make offers to those who have been waiting longest.

As part of the review process, we are also identifying people who no longer require accommodation. They are removed from the list of people waiting for an offer, speeding up the process for people on the list who still need accommodation.

This review has reduced the number of unaccommodated people from over 3,500 in March 2025, to 613 in October 2025.

This means that eligible people who applied for international protection during 2023 and 2024 and the earlier part of 2025 have now all received an offer of accommodation.

Depending on availability of spaces and numbers of new applicants, we will continue to make offers of accommodation to more people over the coming weeks and months.

Updated information on unaccommodated international protection applicants is published online at Gov.ie.

www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/publications/statistics-on-international-protection-applicants-not-offered-accommodation/?referrer=https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/e202e-statistics-on-international-protection-applicants-not-offered-accommodation/.

International Protection

Ceisteanna (756, 757)

Gary Gannon

Ceist:

756. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of people who have been refused temporary protection in each month to date in 2025. [63127/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Gary Gannon

Ceist:

757. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of people from Ukraine who have applied for international protection to date in 2025. [63128/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I propose to take Questions Nos. 756 and 757 together.

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 of people who were granted or refused temporary protection by my Department for each month of 2025 and up to 9 November. It does not include those who voluntarily withdrew from temporary protection at a later date.

2025	Granted Temporary Protection	Refused Temporary Protection
January	708	31
February	770	19
March	578	14
April	496	23
May	583	28
June	761	26
July	1213	38
August	765	53
September	1810	191
October	1611	156
November	260	25
Total (as of 9/11/2025)	9555	604

From 1 January to 12 November 2025, 268 Ukrainian nationals have applied for international protection in Ireland.

Please note, all figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.

Question No. 757 answered with Question No. 756.

Asylum Seekers

Ceisteanna (758)

Gary Gannon

Ceist:

758. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the support that is offered to a person who has applied for temporary protection but is refused due to having received temporary protection in another member state. [63129/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

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.

Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1460, dated 15 July 2025, directs that a person cannot be granted Temporary Protection if they already have Temporary Protection in another EU Member State.

Therefore, if a person has availed of Temporary Protection in another Member State they will be refused Temporary Protection and associated supports in Ireland. It should be noted that it is open to the person re reapply for temporary protection once they can show proof that they have withdrawn or cancelled their temporary protection in the other Member State.

International Protection

Ceisteanna (759)

Gary Gannon

Ceist:

759. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total occupancy of IPAS accommodation compared to the total capacity. [63130/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

As the Deputy is aware, over recent years, the IPAS system was operating at or near full capacity. The lack of capacity and instability in the system to respond to the increase from 2022 to 2024 was damaging for services, residents and people applying for international protection, staff and communities. It also gave rise to an undesirable situation where the State was nearly entirely dependant on private operators.

Total IPAS resident numbers have been steady since the end of 2024, at around 33,000, but individual people and family groups are moving into, and out of, IPAS accommodation every week. It is a very dynamic system, and despite a very substantial decrease in applications for international protection this year, there are still approximately 1,000 new applications every month, and on average 500 people moving into, out of, and around the system on a weekly basis.

In 2025 and 2026, the IPAS system is working toward a goal of having 15% of beds available at any given time. This is a European Union good practice measure, to ensure efficient operations and allow for the daily and weekly movement of new and existing residents, and forward planning.

This model is similar to accommodation models in other countries, and in sectors like healthcare and hospitality, where accommodation requires daily management.

At the moment, IPAS is not meeting this goal, with only 9% of beds available for use. IPAS will continue working towards the goal of 15% available capacity over the coming year. Entrances to and exits from the IPAS accommodation system are restricted due to pressure on suitable capacity for new arrivals, particularly single male applicants, and due to people who have completed their application process finding it hard to source accommodation outside the IPAS system.

While my Department does not routinely collate reports aligning to the information requested, we can supply the following to respond to your request. The table below outlines the available bed capacity within the IPAS system over 318 centres, as at 24 October 2025.

Available capacity	36,128
Residents	32,648
Single male beds available	600
Mixed accommodation beds available	2,430
Family only beds available	450
Total available beds (24/10/25)	3,480

Single male applicants for international protection have been particularly affected by shortages of accommodation since 2022. At a point, over 3,500 people in this group were awaiting an offer of accommodation. Through an ongoing programme since March 2025, this has steadily reduced to 613 people awaiting an offer in October 2025.

This accommodation type is in shortest supply, with only 600 contingency beds available as outlined above. My Department continues to manage this very limited supply, ensuring that the contingency beds above are kept available for daily arrivals, people with health or other vulnerabilities, and this is kept under continual active review to maximise best use of limited capacity.

Many beds are pre-assigned or out of use on a daily basis for essential reasons including pre-assignments for referrals from daily homeless outreach, beds designated dispersal centres, or for residents due to move from centres that are closing. Bed may be out of use within the system for a range of reasons including infection control, renovation or family room configurations.

My Department works at all times to ensure the limited accommodation capacity is used in the best and most effective way, prioritising those people who are most vulnerable or those with families.

Citizenship Applications

Ceisteanna (760)

Willie O'Dea

Ceist:

760. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration when a decision will be made on an application for citizenship (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63135/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

The naturalisation application referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department.

I understand that extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants. I want to assure anyone who has an application for naturalisation submitted that the Citizenship Division of my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible.

It is important to note, however, that no two naturalisation applications are the same and some take longer than others to process. Given the importance of citizenship, robust and comprehensive checks must take place on each application. Unfortunately, some checks, such as international checks, can take a considerable amount of time and these are largely outside of the control of the Immigration Service.

For that reason, while, I expect that going forward, that most applicants will receive a decision within one year, this cannot be guaranteed in the case of applications made in any specific year.

Citizenship Division have taken a significant number of steps to improve up the process for applicants. These included introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that these changes are reducing processing times.

Applicants can now directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s Customer Service Portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at: portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

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.

Departmental Records

Ceisteanna (761)

Cathal Crowe

Ceist:

761. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the national records that are available on the number of miscarriages, and/or stillbirths, which occurred due to acts of violent crime or accidents, from 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63243/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I am informed by An Garda Síochána that there is no structured incident type available in PULSE to record that a miscarriage or stillbirth resulted from violent crime or accidents.

To be of assistance to the Deputy, I contacted the HSE's Hospital In Patient Enquiry (HIPE) data unit and am informed that here aren't any unique diagnosis codes for assignment to represent miscarriage or still birth which resulted from violent crimes or accidents.

If the patient had an accident or was assaulted the injuries would be coded. If during the same episode of care the patient had a miscarriage or delivered a still born that would be coded but there is no way to determine that this was due to the assault or accident.

Citizenship Applications

Ceisteanna (762)

Sinéad Gibney

Ceist:

762. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the protections against statelessness that his Department will put in place for naturalised Irish citizens, in the context of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (Revocation of Certificate of Naturalisation) (Prescribed Forms) Regulations 2025 (S.I. No. 122/2025); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63245/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I can assure the Deputy that revocation of Irish citizenship is only undertaken in the most serious of circumstances as set out in section 19 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (as amended). The loss of citizenship has serious consequences and each case is considered very carefully.

Following a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Damache v Minister for Justice [2020], changes to the process were made by the Court, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 to address the issues which gave rise to the Supreme Court judgment.

Under the new procedure, where the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration decides to revoke citizenship, they may do so under the five grounds set out in the 1956 Act. A notification of this intention is issued to the individual, who will be provided with the opportunity to make representations, and has 28 days to so, before a decision is made to revoke their certificate of naturalisation.

Following receipt of those representations, or on expiry of the 28 days, if the Minister decides to proceed to revoke the certificate of naturalisation, then the individual has 14 days in which to request a Committee of Inquiry to review the decision. Upon receipt of this request, the Minister will appoint a Committee of Inquiry which will be independent in its function of inquiry into the Minister's decision, and can either affirm the decision or set it aside.

In making a decision to revoke a certificate of naturalisation, the Minister takes a number of issues into account including any impacts on Constitutional and Convention rights, as well as any issues around statelessness. All of these factors must be weighed against the need to protect the security of the State.

Amendments to the process of revocation of citizenship came into effect from 7 April 2025 and the revised provisions can be found at revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1956/act/26/section/19/revised/en/html.

Court Judgments

Ceisteanna (763, 764)

Cathal Crowe

Ceist:

763. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of persons with a Clare address who were given a penal sentence in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, per year, in tabular form; and the category of crimes for which they were imprisoned. [63304/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Cathal Crowe

Ceist:

764. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of persons handed a penal sentence nationwide in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, by year, in tabular form; the of category of crimes for which they were imprisoned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63305/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I propose to take Questions Nos. 763 and 764 together.

The management of the courts, operational matters and logistical functions are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and the Constitution.

The collation of data on convictions is a function of the courts. The Department does not record data relating to sentencing and/or convictions. The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie.

To be of assistance, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the Courts Service, who have advised that they will respond directly to the Deputy.

Question No. 764 answered with Question No. 763.

Question No. 765 answered with Question No. 745.

Question No. 766 answered with Question No. 745.

Prison Service

Ceisteanna (767)

Cathal Crowe

Ceist:

767. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average cost of imprisoning a prisoner per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63308/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I am advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that the average annual cost of an available, staffed prison space during the calendar year 2024 was €99,072, an 11.9% increase on the 2023 cost of €88,523.

This equates to an average weekly cost of €1,905 in 2024 compared to €1,702 in 2023.

This includes net expenditure incurred within the year (such as salaries, utilities/maintenance, ICT, prison services, etc.) excluding capital expenditure on buildings, ICT and vehicle purchases. The main reasons for the increase over 2023 was due to increased variable costs due to increased prisoner numbers, increased capacity, inflation and increases in payroll costs.

Schools Building Projects

Ceisteanna (768)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

Ceist:

768. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for the update position on a new build for a school (details supplied), funded by the Immigrant Investor Programme, handled by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. [63311/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

At the outset, it is important to note that, as Minister, I do not comment on individual Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) applications.

I can advise you that further details concerning the processing of outstanding IIP applications is published on the Immigration Service website of my Department, including an FAQ document. Both can be accessed at the following link: www.irishimmigration.ie/processing-of-iip-applications-on-hand-following-the-closure-of-the-programme/

If a project owner has any queries, they can contact the IIP Unit directly.

Electric Vehicles

Ceisteanna (769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778)

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

I propose to take Questions Nos. 769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777 and 778 together.

Below is a yearly breakdown of the number of incidents in which an e-scooter was detained or seized by Gardaí since 1 January 2024.

	2024	2025	Total
Nationwide	326	744	1,070
Dublin region	227	537	764

Figures are based on incidents occurring from 1 January 2024 to 13 November 2025, inclusive. All information is based upon operational data from the PULSE system as was available on 14 November 2025 and is subject to change.

"Vehicles detained incidents" include, but are not limited to, those detained under S41 of the Road Traffic Act.

"Vehicles seized incidents" refers to instances where Gardaí seize property and can include items that are the proceeds of crime, items of evidence in the investigation of a crime, or vehicles for technical examination.

I am further informed by Garda authorities that data recorded on PULSE for vehicle seizures or detentions are generally non-crime incidents and will tend to not have a recording for an offender’s age. Given that recording varies across the range of incident types, person associations with incidents/vehicles and whether an incident was crime or non-crime, An Garda Síochána is unable to provide data on the number of e-scooters seized from persons under 16 years of age.

The Garda authorities have confirmed that there were 52 incidents in 2024 and 67 incidents to date in 2025 where the detention or seizures of an e-scooter was linked to a crime incident other than those related to road traffic offences.

I have further been advised that the Criminal Assets Bureau have not seized any e-scooters in 2024 and 2025 to date.

Question No. 770 answered with Question No. 769.