The Minister for Justice has welcomed this week’s decisions from the European Commission confirming Ireland’s opt-in to seven of the legislative measures in the EU Asylum and Migration Pact.

Helen McEntee said that the agreement would help Ireland to take an active role in managing migration in Europe, securing national and EU borders, and ensuring that asylum systems were cohesive, fair, and efficient.

The deal is aimed at harmonising and improving the management of migration across the EU. The commission is aiming for member states to start applying the legislation by mid-2026.

Ireland will be participating in seven legislative measures under the pact:

• Asylum Procedure Regulation,
• Asylum and Migration Management Regulation,
• Eurodac Regulation,
• Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation,
• Reception Conditions Directive,
• Qualification Regulation, and
• Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Framework Regulation.

2015 act to be repealed

As a result of the decision, new legislation will be introduced to repeal and replace the International Protection Act 2015.

The Department of Justice says that legislative changes will provide for:

• The full repeal of the International Protection Act 2015,
• Legally binding timeframes for making decisions on international-protection applications and appeals,
• A greater focus on efficient returns for unsuccessful applicants,
• Accelerated processing including for those from safe countries, those with no or false documents, and those who have crossed borders illegally,
• Those who are processed under the border procedure will not be authorised to enter Ireland and will be accommodated at designated locations. Their applications, appeals and removal decisions must be processed within three months,
• New dedicated accommodation for those who are being processed in the border procedure or who are due to be returned to another country,
• A new solidarity mechanism requiring countries to either make a financial contribution to or agree to relocate some asylum seekers from countries facing particular pressures, and
• Expansion of the categories of migrants who will be fingerprinted and checked against the Eurodac database.