Civil servant to be hired to combat misinformation around migration

Tents formerly used by asylum seekers in Dublin.  Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A senior civil servant is to be appointed to fight misinformation and disinformation around migration.

The newly-reconstituted Cabinet Committee on Migration met on Thursday. Ministers agreed that a civil servant will be hired at principal-officer grade at the Department of Children and will be tasked with working across Government to improve communication on migration and integration at a local and national level.

Sources said that the location and planning of future international protection sites and the overall migration policy "could be better communicated".

Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the meeting faster processing times for safe countries introduced in recent months have halved the numbers of people coming to Ireland from those countries.

Helen McEntee said faster processing times for safe countries had halved numbers coming to Ireland from those countries. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

An accelerated process has been in place for eight countries since November 2022. 

Ms McEntee said Georgia was added to the safe countries list when it had the highest number of applicants. It is now not in the top 10. She said last month that eight countries are being reviewed by her department, to be added to the list of states which the Government considers a safe country of origin in a matter of weeks.

The meeting also heard that legislation to close the legal loophole following the High Court ruling that the UK is not a safe country will be passed through the house by June.

Ministers were told that the current situation means that a Nigerian who comes to Ireland through the UK will be returned to Nigeria if their application for asylum is unsuccessful. This was called "a clear signal" that people coming across the border need to be aware they will be sent home to Nigeria if a negative decision is given.

The committee was also told that the number of Ukrainians coming to Ireland has dropped dramatically since benefits were cut, though sources cautioned that it is too early to say if the two things are linked. At this time last year, they said, around 500 people were arriving from Ukraine each week, but that has varied from 100 to 200 since new laws were passed.

Weekly payments to newly-arrived Ukrainian refugees have gone from €220 to €38.80 per week. The Government has also introduced a 90-day time limit for Ukrainian refugees staying in State accommodation.