Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 December 2025
101. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the implications the change of rules by the British Government on immigration may have on the Irish State; the additional measures that will have to be put in place as a consequence of the changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66650/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra376. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has produced any formal impact assessment, internal risk analysis or scenario modelling on the likely displacement of asylum applicants from the United Kingdom to Ireland following the UK Government's recently announced asylum reforms, and to outline the date each assessment was commissioned and completed and the principal findings. [68838/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra377. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the estimated change in arrivals through Northern Ireland that his Department anticipates over the next twelve months as a result of the UK Government's asylum reforms, including any modelling undertaken on movements across the Common Travel Area and the open land border, and to detail the data sources, assumptions and projected ranges applied in this modelling. [68839/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra379. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to detail the specific legislative or administrative changes under preparation to ensure that Ireland's asylum system does not act as a pull factor relative to the United Kingdom following its asylum reforms, including the timeline for these changes and whether they will be incorporated into the forthcoming International Protection Bill. [68841/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 101, 376, 377 and 379 together.
I am focused on taking all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, while also ensuring the integrity of the system.
We know that a significant proportion of people who apply for international protection here in Ireland have entered over our shared land border with the UK. We must recognise however that, when my officials and I speak to our UK counterparts, they also express concern that many people are travelling in the opposite direction too: from Ireland, across the land border, and into the UK to claim asylum there.
It is true then that both Ireland and the UK have a common interest in the effective operation of the Common Travel Area (CTA) from a migration as well as from a security point of view and we work together to prevent any abuses of the CTA as well as to strengthen the external border of the CTA.
My Department is carrying out a joint risk assessment with the UK Home Office which will consider emerging trends which may impact operational and policy priorities. Its overarching aim is to inform policy making and operational prioritisation in line with our existing strategy to secure the external CTA border.
I would also add that, since my appointment as Minister for Justice, I have had a number of engagements with the then UK Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, where we discussed cooperation in respect of managing the Common Travel Area, and our shared objectives to provide for effective management of migration and border security. I am looking forward to engaging with the current Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, in the coming weeks where this important engagement will continue.
I can assure the Deputy that I and the Government are aware that changes to the UK’s asylum practices or laws can result in changes to the migratory flows between the UK and Ireland. My officials and I will be closely monitoring any effect on trends in applications and will take any action necessary in close cooperation with the UK.
