Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has confirmed that Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the EU has formally informed the EU Council and EU Commission of Ireland’s wish to participate in the relevant provisions of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The Pact will come into full effect in two years from now.
The minister has also outlined the next steps in the process that Ireland must adopt regarding the full integration of the EU Asylum and Migration Pact into Irish law.
In the immediate term this involves an Interdepartmental Programme Board chaired by the minister’s Department being established to “develop and deliver the implementation plan for the Pact. Initial preparatory meetings with senior stakeholders from across Government Departments and Agencies have been held.”
An interdepartmental programme implementation team, along with members from the Department of Justice, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and other agencies is also being established.
This team will report to the Interdepartmental Programme Board “and coordinate and drive the implementation of Pact measures across a number of strategic pillars, including appeals, returns, the border procedure and reception and infrastructure. This team will ensure all stakeholders are consulted and informed as necessary.”
Minister McEntee says that work has already begun on a National implementation plan that she will bring to Government later this year.
The minister went on to claim that “the Pact will allow us to overhaul the entire system,” and that the Pact “will harmonise asylum procedures and processes across the EU.”
It is also claimed that “the EU Commission will partner with Ireland and other member states, offering operational and financial support and that the Commission “has shared a Common Implementation Plan that sets out high-level objectives and a timeline for key actions to be delivered by the Commission and by Member States.”
This, Common Implementation Plan, the minister says, “will inform the National Implementation Plan that Ireland and other Member States will produce by December 2024.”
The EU has committed €3.6 billion in funding over the coming years to support the implementation of the Pact in Member States through the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the multi-annual financial framework mid-term review and a number of other funding streams, and according to Minister McEntee, “the Government intends to draw down the maximum amount available.”
In addition to this, “the development of the National Implementation Plan will inform process reforms, and the reshaping of the State bodies responsible for asylum decisions and appeals. On the basis of that work, new primary and secondary legislation will be developed to replace the International Protection Act 2015 and other relevant aspects of our legislation. It is envisaged that the General Scheme of the primary legislation will be published in Q1 2025 to allow for drafting and enactment by mid 2026.”