Ireland plugs into Schengen II real-time data exchange

Ireland is to plug into the Schengen Information System (SIS II), allowing automated, simultaneous, and immediate exchange of law-enforcement information.

Schengen is the largest and most widely used IT system for public security in Europe, with 30 countries participating.

It enables law-enforcement agencies to share and check data on wanted and missing persons.

All lost or stolen object/vehicle records created by An Garda Síochána will also be immediately available to 30 EU and associated Schengen countries.

Extradition

Records for anyone sought for arrest and surrender for extradition across Europe will be automatically checked each time a passport is scanned at a point of entry to Ireland, or a name searched on the Garda PULSE system.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has today welcomed the decision by the EU Council to approve Ireland’s connection to the Schengen Information System (SIS II).

She said: “Connecting to SIS is a game-changer for gardaí in their investigation of cross-border crime. The system will support much greater real-time police co-operation with our EU law-enforcement colleagues, and further build on Ireland’s ability to tackle serious crime.

Gardaí will add data to SIS II in the form of alerts. An alert contains three elements:

• Identifying information on the person or object/vehicle sought,
• A statement as to why the person or object is sought, and
• The action to be taken when the person or object is found.

During 2019 alone, there were 120,000 missing-person records shared on SIS II.

Records for those sought for arrest and surrender for extradition across Europe will be automatically checked each time a member of An Garda Síochána conducts a name search on the Garda PULSE system, or when a member of the Immigration Service of the Department of Justice conducts a passport scan at a point of entry to Ireland.

There were over 40,000 alerts on SIS II for persons wanted for arrest at the end of 2019.

Automated and integrated SIS II searches will assist in locating any of those people who may be in Ireland.

An Garda Síochána Deputy Commissioner John Twomey said: “We have been building our organisational capacity in terms of our systems and people for some time to ensure we can harness the full benefits of this system in keeping people safe.

“SIS II is already well established across Europe. Its use here will give An Garda Síochána immediate access to significant amounts of data that will be a major aid to us in preventing and detecting crime. Ultimately, it will bring enhanced security to the people of this island.”

Immigration

An Garda Síochána has integrated the PULSE and Garda National Immigration Bureau databases with SIS II, and gardaí and staff of the Border Management Unit and Immigration Service (ISD) will be able to see SIS data on their workstations.

When connected, the new SIRENE Bureau (Supplementary Information Request at the National Entries) within An Garda Síochána will be responsible for the daily management of the SIS system, which will operate on a 24/7 basis. 

The changes are due to come into effect from 15 March 2021.

Ireland remains outside the Schengen common travel area, but takes part in some policing co-operation arrangements that are part of the Schengen Agreement.

There are currently 30 countries connected to SIS – 26 EU Member States and four associated Schengen countries (Switzerland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland).

SIS II upgrades the old SIS I with state-of-the-art technology, operating on a network with greatly enhanced levels of encryption and security, and important new functionalities.

In particular, it will send alerts on missing children.

Use case

During a random check on a car with a German licence plate, a three-year-old girl missing in Germany was found by the Czech police while being driven in the direction of Prague.

When checking the passengers’ travel documents in SIS, it transpired that the child was, in fact, subject to a German court order restricting her movements to German territory, and was being searched for by the German police.

The two adults travelling with her declared themselves to be the child’s grandparents but were not in a position to prove such a relationship. The child was, therefore, temporarily placed in secure accommodation.

Following the communications between the Czech and German Police, she was eventually placed in the care of the German authorities.

Missing person

A 17-year-old Russian citizen was reported missing in Austria. Further to the entry of a missing person alert in SIS, the border guards in Hungary found her in a car heading to Romania with three Romanian citizens.

The Hungarian authorities placed her under protection, and arrested the abductors.