Shortly after Tánaiste Simon Harris said the number of asylum seekers coming to Ireland was too high, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has admitted that up to 80% of IPAS applicants in Ireland are actually economic migrants who are not genuine asylum seekers.
He also told false asylum seekers “don’t bother coming” to Ireland, as your claim will be rejected upon arrival.
The Taoiseach was speaking after this week Tánaiste Simon Harris told Gript that the number of asylum seekers coming to Ireland is “too high”. Harris also urged detaining migrants who fail to comply with deportation orders, and said he was “open-minded” on whether the State should have exit checks to ensure that deportation order recipients leave the State.
Asked about this hardening of immigration stance on RTÉ Radio 1, Martin backed up the remarks by Harris, saying that between 70% to 80% of IPAS applicants are refused asylum on first appeal stage.
“That’s significant, because it really points to that what you’re looking at here is economic migration primarily,” the Taoiseach said.
He also discouraged people from coming to Ireland if they “know deep down” that they’re just going to have their applications refused in the end.
“I think the message has gone out: if you don’t qualify and you know you’re not going to qualify, don’t bother coming,” Martin said.
He also said that it was his understanding that the “vast majority” of asylum claimants coming to Ireland were coming over the border from Northern Ireland.
He also said he wouldn’t “rule out” sending failed asylum seekers to deportation hubs outside the European Union’s borders, saying that migration is an issue that impacts the whole of Europe. He also said that Ireland and Britain should discuss returns for false asylum seekers travelling between the two jurisdictions.
“These are issues we will examine, and we’re not ruling anything out,” he said.
He also said during the same interview that Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan was considering “every aspect” of migration policy, and that the existing appeals process had to be sped up.
“We are appointing more and recruiting more to accelerate the appeals process to make sure people know procedures are strict here, they’re firm, they’re fair,” the Taoiseach said.
“These are issues we can discuss with the British government in terms of returns and so on,” he said.
Both of these interventions come less than a week after the Government suffered a crushing defeat in the 2025 Presidential election at the hands of unified Leftwing candidate Catherine Connolly.