Asylum-seeking children will bear brunt of changes to international protection legislation

New law will allow Ireland to detain children who are seeking safety here for the first time, writes Children's Ombudsman Niall Muldoon 

A mother with her five-month-old baby and six-year-old son, carrying a blue teddy, is escorted onto a Garda vehicle for deportation under Operation Trench last November. Picture: Chani Anderson

Last week, as Ireland was celebrated around the world for our ‘céad míle fáilte’, the most significant change to the Irish asylum system in the history of the State was debated in the Seanad. 

The International Protection Bill 2026 will give effect to the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which Ireland must implement by June of this year. Such is the relative quiet on the legislation, at least in public, it would be easy to miss that these changes are even taking place.