Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 February 2026
221. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of persons who have sought asylum in the State which have subsequently moved North or to Britain for each of the past five years. [10611/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra222. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of persons who came into the State seeking asylum from the North of Ireland for each of the past five years. [10612/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 221 and 222 together.
Ireland and the United Kingdom share a long history and common interest in the effective operation of the Common Travel Area (CTA). Maintaining the integrity of the CTA and preventing its abuse in the context of immigration is an issue that I and my officials prioritise in our engagements with my UK counterparts.
My Department is taking all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, while ensuring the integrity of those processes is maintained at all times.
There is extensive engagement and cooperation at all levels between my Department’s officials and their Home Office counterparts. This includes joint operational cooperation, as well as information sharing, between the Gardaí, UK Border Force, UK policing services and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
This strong practical engagement and cooperation serves the mutual interests of both Ireland and the United Kingdom and will continue. The protection of an open border on the island of Ireland was and remains a key priority to the communities on both sides of the border.
As there are no routine border checks on the island of Ireland, it is not possible to provide definitive figures on the lines sought by the Deputy. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department’s assessment, based on the experience of staff and others working in the field, and based on the material gathered at interviews, is that in a significant proportion of cases, those applying for the first time in the International Protection Office have entered over the land border.
