29-04-2025
What can be expected from the Government's overhaul of asylum laws?
The Government has announced a major overhaul of asylum laws, billed as the most significant reform of the area in the history of the State.
So what is it all about? Here we look at the International Protection Bill 2025 and what it entails.
New proposed law
Ireland is already obliged to redraft its immigration laws to bring them into line with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
The pact involves the implementation of agreed procedures across the EU to provide more aligned and more effective processing of asylum applications.
It also specifies mandatory shorter timeframes along with enhanced screening and security checks on those arriving at borders.
Ireland agreed last year to opt into the agreement.
The pact comes into force on 11 June 2026 and Ireland is required to change its immigration laws by then to align asylum processes across the EU.
Today, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan published the outline of the International Protection Bill 2025 to give effect to these measures.
Tighter decision making
The Bill will make it unlawful if a decision is not made on an asylum border application within a period of three months, in the vast majority of cases.
This deadline will apply to applicants from countries of origin with a recognition rate of 20% or less across the EU, or who have no documents or false documents, or who pose a security risk.
The three-month deadline will also apply to appeals for these applicants.
Some applications, however, may stretch to six months.
Fewer oral hearings
The other new plank to expediting decisions is the proposal to remove an automatic right to an oral hearing in an appeal.
Applicants are still entitled to an oral hearing in the first instance and that hearing will be recorded with the transcript preserved.
New appeals lodged after the Bill becomes law will be decided by a new entity called the Second Instance Body.
This body will have access to the transcript of the first hearing.
The Second Instance Body will replace the existing International Protection Appeals Tribunal for new appeals lodged after the Bill becomes law.
Oral hearings at appeal stage will only be allowed under limited specific circumstances with the aim of saving time and costs.
Opposition reaction
Sinn Féin has accused the Government of delaying in reforming the asylum area.
The party's Spokesperson on Justice Matt Carthy said the Government's migration policy was all over the place.
He said: "Minister Jim O'Callaghan is talking tough, but processing is still taking far too long and deportations are not being enforced for those who do not have a right to be here.
"The recent deportation flight to Georgia was simply a propaganda exercise to cover for dysfunction across the system, particularly when it comes to enforcement."
However, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the new three-month deadline was cruel and lacked compassion.
He said: "Imposing a three-month deadline for asylum decisions prioritises bureaucratic speed over human fairness.
"International protection claims involve trauma, persecution, and complex histories. Arbitrary deadlines will inevitably lead to rushed, wrongful refusals - and the real risk of deporting people back into danger."
The minister said he disagreed, adding: "What is cruel is asking someone to come into the country and then processing their application over a period of up to three years, that's where the real cruelty arises.
"What we need to have is a process that gives people a quick decision. If you succeed, and are entitled to asylum you can stay, if you don't, you must leave."
Detention Centres
The Bill provides for the detention of applicants as a measure of last resort.
The minister said today he hoped that detention centres would not become necessary but he said the proposed law was required to provide for them.
Next steps
The general scheme of the Bill is published today and it will go to pre-legislative scrutiny over the next few months.
It is expected that the full Bill will be published in November and it must be passed into law by June 2026 in order to comply with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
