I am fully committed to ensuring that Ireland’s International Protection system is robust and rules based, and that our borders are protected.
All applicants who enter the international protection process are fingerprinted and photographed. These fingerprints are checked against Eurodac, an EU database which stores the fingerprints of asylum applicants and those who have been found to cross borders illegally.
An applicant who has a live international protection application in a Member State or has residency status is assessed under the Dublin III Regulation, with a view to determining which Member State is responsible for determining the protection application.
Information about the previous country of application for asylum is not stored in a manner which allows detailed data to be extracted along the lines sought by the Deputy.
A “marked Eurodac hit” indicates that a person has been granted international protection status in an EU member state. The table below shows the number of “marked Eurodac hit” cases for international protection applicants from 2021 up to date.
|
Eurodac hits
|
2021
|
2022
|
2023
|
2024
|
2025
|
2026*
|
Total
|
|
Total
|
31
|
212
|
242
|
319
|
361
|
49
|
1214
|
*To cob 30 January 2026
Please note that the figure for 2021 reflects the impact of COVID.
A decision to transfer made under the Dublin III Regulations expires after six months. This extends to 18 months if the applicant has absconded. If an appeal is launched, a Dublin III decision expires six months from the date the appeal decision is given.
In practice, and in keeping with the experience of other Member States, effective implementation of the Dublin Regulation is challenging. Member States have found significant problems with the Dublin Regulation, including the lack of consistent implementation across the Member States and that shortcomings with the design of the Regulation makes it difficult to achieve its main objectives.
In advance of a transfer, it is necessary to inform the receiving State of the transfer and make the arrangements to transfer the person in the specific notification periods for each EU Member State. The notification periods range from 3 working days to the majority of EU Member States requiring at least 7 working days. Earlier this year I increased the permissible detention period to facilitate a transfer under the Regulations from 7 to 42 days, with the intention being to give the Garda National Immigration Bureau more capacity to make the required arrangements in advance of the transfer being effected.
Ireland has opted in to the EU Asylum and Migration Pact which is due to enter operation in 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.
One of the major benefits for Ireland of the Pact is that it replaces the Dublin III Regulation with a more efficient and streamlined process.
The Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) which will replace the Dublin III Regulation, provides for, among other things, streamlined criteria and reduced timeframes for determining the Member State responsible for determining an asylum application as well as revised rules on transferring responsibility and addressing evasion.
This will significantly improve the current system by reducing the administrative burden on the Member States seeking to transfer a person to the Member State. It will also extend the period by which a transfer must be carried out from 18 months to 3 years.
The table below shows the number of Dublin III transfer decisions issued and effected for international protection applicants from 2021 to 6 February 2026.
|
Year
|
Dublin III Transfer Decisions issued
|
Dublin III Transfer Decisions effected
|
|
2021
|
69
|
4
|
|
2022
|
24
|
2
|
|
2023
|
188
|
3
|
|
2024
|
339
|
8
|
|
2025
|
417
|
2
|
|
2026*
|
78
|
0
|
*to 06 February 2026
Please note that all figures are correct at time of issue and may be subject to data cleansing.
Following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU, the UK no longer participates in the Eurodac database.
