Justice Minister defends immigration checks on the border

The Minister for Justice has defended immigration checks by gardaí on the border on the island of Ireland.

Minister Helen McEntee was speaking at the launch of the new Legal Aid Board centre in Ballymun, where she was asked about the checks.

The minister said protection of the Common Travel Area had to be recognised, but she added that it was necessary for the right checks and measures to be in place to identify those who abuse it.

“We are working closely with the PSNI, and we work very closely with our counterparts in the UK to identify any of these types of abuses,” she said.

However, she said if someone is coming to Ireland without a right to be here, gardaí needed to do everything they could to identify people, which is why she said immigration checks on the land border are being carried out.

‘Ramping up the system’

Asked about potential pressures on the Legal Aid Board due to the rise in asylum applicants and appeals, she said her overall objective when it came to the international protection system was to have “a quicker, faster, easier process to navigate,” from start to finish.

The minister said that meant that appeal decisions would be done more quickly too.

“Importantly, if people have a right to be here that they get that decision straight away and that they can move on with their life. But if they don’t have a right to be here, that they’re told that too, and that they’re asked to leave,” she said.

Ms McEntee added that it was about “ramping up the system” at every point and funding had been provided to the legal aid board to make sure they can support everyone.

In 2023, the Legal Aid Board faced an increase in applications for international protection when 9,918 applications were received.

This was a considerable increase on the 6,858 applications received in 2022, which itself was an increase of 368% on the 1,464 applications for legal aid received for international protection matters in 2021.

As of 31 March this year, 2,750 applications for international protection services have been received by the board which was approximately 41% of the overall number of applications received for legal services in the same period last year.

‘Urgent response’ needed on IP accommodation

The chief executive officer of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has called for an “all of government urgent response” to the delivery of accommodation.

Nick Henderson said the delivery of accommodation to international protection applicants is nearly entirely reliant on emergency accommodation and this approach has resulted in two thousand people on the street.

He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that government should increase the packages of supports given to people.

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“It’s currently €130 for an international protection applicant, and that’s insufficient. Somebody may be able to afford a hostel for a few nights but as we move into summer that’s getting increasingly expensive,” he said.

“We’re also recommending better communication with people who are sleeping rough and who are homeless.”

Mr Henderson acknowledged that there are concerns and questions about immigration and international protection.

However, the IRC is concerned that some candidates are using this issue as a way to generate votes during this election cycle, he said.

Mr Henderson added that frequent Government announcements about international protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees are “slowly chiseling away at the rights and entitlements of people seeking International Protection and also beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine”.