Latest news with #EUAsylumandMigrationPact
The Journal
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Huge overhaul of asylum law in Ireland incoming as Minister does not rule out detention centres
JUSTICE MINISTER Jim O'Callaghan has received government approval to forge ahead with legislation to overhaul how Ireland responds to people seeking asylum in the State. The International Protection Bill 2025 aims to dramatically speed up the time it takes to process a person's application for international protection. Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said today most cases will be processed within three months, while others will be done within a maximum of six months. 'If they are entitled, they're perfectly entitled to stay here. They're welcome to Irish hospitality. If they're not, they have to leave,' the minister said. O'Callaghan said the speeding up of the process will be achieved by increased staffing and a streamlining of how the current system operates. 'At present, you'll be aware that the process of people applying for asylum and appealing any decisions at the international protection office can take up to three years. It's too long, it's too costly, it's unfair on the people who are going through the process. 'And what I want to do is to achieve a much smoother and less costly process,' he said. Once enacted, one of the main changes the bill will introduce is that asylum seekers will no longer have an automatic right to a full oral hearing if their application for international protection is refused. The legislation also opens the door for the creation of detention centres for people who are seeking international protection. Asked by The Journal if the use of detention centres is going to be seen in Ireland, the Justice Minister said: 'I don't think so, but it is a provision that is going to be contained within the legislation. But simply because it's contained within it doesn't mean it's going to be used. 'I would have thought the appropriate mechanism is going to be we're going to have accommodation centres that are going to be owned by the state. The most important part of the whole process is that we'll have a speedier process.' Advertisement The bill will see the creation of 'Screening Centres' for most people seeking asylum. In an Irish context, the Department of Justice has said these are being seen as a 'one-stop shop' to register and lodge applications, complete relevant checks, determine the appropriate pathway for applicants, and to provide legal counselling. The Department said: 'It is expected that those undergoing Screening will generally be subject to appropriate alternatives to detention or allocation to a geographic area.' It will generally be expected for people to present at a screening centre when they arrive to Ireland if they are seeking asylum. This new bill must be passed by both houses of the Oireachtas in time for it to come into operation on 11 June 2026, this is to align with the EU Asylum and Migration Pact that Ireland signed up to last year. Essentially, the pact agrees a new housing strategy for asylum seekers that focuses on 'moving away from reliance on private providers'. It also allows some member states the option of paying a monetary contribution to the bloc rather than accepting migrants. Under the pact, Ireland will have permission to return IP applicants who have moved here back to another EU member state to have their claim processed if they have travelled here from that country. The government has said it is intended that the Irish bill will be drafted and published by the end of 2025. Responding to the proposed legislation today, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the efforts to reduce the amount of time it takes to process an asylum application, particularly the plans to reduce the use of oral appeals, seem 'unduly harsh'. 'Asylum is complex. It's not a one-size-fits-all model. 'There'll be any number of people who can't potentially give written testimony and will have to give oral testimony in terms of levelling out traumas, levelling out any number of issues about why they've had to come here in search of sanctuary,' Gannon said. Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said his party also has no interest in the creation of detention centres. 'But we do have to have a situation where the policy is implemented in a strict fashion. And one of the difficulties I have at the moment is most of the deportations are happening on a voluntary basis. You cannot have a voluntary deportation system,' he said. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Extra.ie
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Extra.ie
O'Callaghan's new asylum bill is set to shelve oral hearings for IPA appeals
Oral hearings for international protection applicants appealing asylum refusals are to be shelved, except in exceptional circumstances, under plans to be brought forward by the Justice Minister today. A new International Protection Bill will be signed off by the Cabinet today, which will allow for the implementation of the controversial EU Asylum and Migration Pact. Jim O'Callaghan is expected to tell Cabinet colleagues that the current international protection system is 'not working effectively, with decisions taking far too long'. Pic: Leah Farrell/© Sources have said this new legislation will provide for changes which include the streamlining of decisions and returns process, a new 'Border procedure' with a three-month time limit for decisions, limiting the use of oral hearings for appeals and new institutional arrangements for international protection decisions and appeals. Currently, appeals take between 12 and 14 months. Sources said the system was becoming 'clogged up' because of the need for legal counsel and to obtain qualified interpreters to attend hearings. But with new EU rules stipulating that the initial application and appeal should be done in three months, Mr O'Callaghan intervened to suggest that appeals be limited to written in nature and only be oral in exceptional circumstances. A Government source said: 'The Minister put this in himself.' The EU Migration and Asylum Pact is a new EU framework to manage migration and asylum in the long term. The overall objective of the Pact is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be done through convergence in asylum practices across the EU, and the Government hopes that the introduction of the Pact will reduce the number of applicants, firstly by reducing secondary movement through the EU, and secondly through the increased use of significantly accelerated processes. International Protection Office on Mount Street, Dublin. Pic: The Government has moved to significantly tighten immigration policy in the past 18 months in response to a surge of international protection applicants after Covid restrictions eased. The State is now more likely than ever to reject applications for International Protection, with 81% refused at first instance so far this year, compared to 52% rejected in 2017. Ireland has seen applications for international protection soar since the pandemic. In 2022, 13,651 applied for international protection, with 13,277 in 2023. Applications for international protection in Ireland reached an all-time high in 2024 of 18,500. The first charter flight with failed asylum seekers took off earlier this year, and has previously reported that it has become harder to claim asylum in Ireland over the past 12 months. There have been 42% fewer applications in the number of International Protection applications in the first three months of 2025 compared to the first three months of 2024. The new International Protection Bill will aim to bring about new efficiencies by enabling officers of the Minister to directly issue decisions on international protection and returns. This will replace the current system of international protection officers issuing recommendations to the Minister. It is also understood that Mr O'Callaghan specifically wanted to amend the rules around what is known as a new 'Second Instance Body' to deal with appeals. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos The new appeals body will operate separately from the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) and will only deal with appeals against international protection and return decisions made under the new Bill. Sources said that the use of oral hearings will be 'extremely limited', to 'drive efficiency and time savings'. Mr O'Callaghan is already implementing an accelerated processing system for those from designated safe countries of origin, applicants who have received protection elsewhere in Europe and citizens of countries from which there are the largest number of applicants. Applications from countries subject to the accelerated procedure have reduced significantly since their introduction, and the numbers coming to Ireland to seek international protection have reduced. The General Scheme of the International Protection Bill will essentially also give effect to the Asylum and Migration Pact, which Ireland signed up to last year. The Bill will repeal and replace the International Protection Act 2015 in respect of applications lodged after 11 pm on June 11, 2026. The Bill must be in place by June 2026, but the Government is hopeful that it will become law by the end of the year. Under the draft legislation, which has been seen by Mr O'Callaghan has set down a series of stringent rules which must be followed if an oral hearing is to be granted on appeal.
