A response from Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan to a parliamentary question from Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has revealed that his Department holds no centralised data on the proportion of international protection applicants classified as minors who present to the International Protection Office (IPO) without any or valid documentation.
The Minister also confirmed to Deputy Nolan that while all applicants aged 14 and over are fingerprinted and checked against the Eurodac database, the IPO does not collate or record the specific documentation status of those claiming to be unaccompanied minors (UAMs) in any aggregated form.
The Minister stated it was “not possible” to provide the information requested because data is held only on individual files.
The reply did, however, disclose updated referral figures to Tusla for individuals presenting as unaccompanied minors:
2023: 184 referrals. 2024: 250 referrals, 2025: 336 referrals. 2026 (to 11 May): 72 referrals:
“This represents a near-doubling of referrals since 2023, occurring against a backdrop of Ireland’s ongoing and severe housing crisis, overstretched child protection services, and major public concern about age verification in the international protection system,” Deputy Nolan said.
“Once again the Government has been forced to admit that many areas of the asylum process are data deserts.”
“The Department cannot even tell us what proportion of those claiming to be unaccompanied minors arrive without valid identity documents, information that is fundamental to proper identity verification and safeguarding.”
“I have warned repeatedly that the age-verification processes within the asylum system are not merely deficient but dangerously unreliable. This latest reply only serves to confirm that warning and shows the system remains wide open to abuse.”
Deputy Nolan has consistently raised this issue in the Dáil. In November 2025 she was told there was no central reporting on false or disputed age claims.
She has also highlighted the placement of adults in Tusla care, and the broader strain placed on Irish taxpayers and services by unsustainable levels of international protection applications:
“Referrals to Tusla have surged dramatically while the Department refuses or is incapable of producing basic information.”
“The Minister must now introduce mandatory, standardised age assessment protocols, including where appropriate medical examinations in line with best practice in other European countries, and publish clear data on documentation and age-dispute outcomes,” Deputy Nolan concluded.