Migration pact will see undocumented persons housed in designated facilities

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said that while 'no country in the EU wants to deny refuge to those who are fleeing persecution, neither do we want our asylum process to be used as a backdoor to economic migration'. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Those who enter Ireland with no documents will be housed in designated facilities and have their applications dealt with in a matter of weeks under a new EU migration plan.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee secured Cabinet clearance to seek the necessary approvals from the Houses of the Oireachtas to opt-in to measures in the EU Asylum and Migration Pact. 

A major part of the pact is a so-called "border procedure" which will see swifter processing of those coming from so-called safe countries. It will also apply to people who have misled authorities such as by destroying identity documents, who are a danger to national security or public order, or who come from countries with a 20% or lower approval rate for asylum applications across the EU.

Those who are processed under the border procedure will not be authorised to enter Ireland and will be accommodated at "designated locations" and their applications must be processed within three months. If unsuccessful, they must be removed within a further three months.

After the Cabinet meeting, Ms McEntee said that while “no country in the EU wants to deny refuge to those who are fleeing persecution, neither do we want our asylum process to be used as a backdoor to economic migration”. 

She said that the pact would be of particular use to Ireland because of its moves on so-called "secondary movements", where a person has applied for asylum in one EU state and moves to a second. She said that between 50-70% of IP applicants to Ireland are secondary movers.

The pact also features a new solidarity mechanism requiring countries to either make a financial contribution to or agree to relocate some asylum seekers from countries facing particular pressures. 

It will also see the expansion of the categories of migrants who will be fingerprinted and checked against the Eurodac database when they arrive.

The pact includes legally binding timeframes for making decisions on international protection applications and appeals as well as a greater focus on "efficient returns" for unsuccessful applicants. There will also be accelerated processing including for those from safe countries, those with no or false documents, and those who have crossed borders illegally.

Ms McEntee confirmed, however, that the pact will not be enacted until 2026 when Ireland's immigration system will be aligned with Europe's for the first time.

The opposition, however, has called for the Government to reject the pact.

Sinn Féin's Justice spokesperson Pa Daly said that Ireland should opt out of parts of the deal, saying that it is "an important question of sovereignty".

“The EU’s Asylum and Migration Pact is a mixed bag of seven proposals. Alongside Denmark, we are the only country with the opportunity to remain outside all or some of these EU measures. We should use that ability to opt-out, as is our right.

“We simply do not have enough beds in our IPAS system to continue accommodating people who should be in other EU countries. This misuse of beds has resulted in hundreds of migrants sleeping in tents on our streets. This is not sustainable."