In reply, Minister Helen McEntee said that “EU citizens do not require a visa to travel to Ireland and may reside freely in any EU Member State. Furthermore, EEA and Swiss nationals are not required to register with immigration authorities.”
“Not all non-EEA nationals are visa required,” she added.
“Under the European Communities Free Movement of Persons Regulations 2015, I may make a removal order in respect of an EU national who represents a danger for public policy or public security if their conduct represents a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society. If an EU national residing in Ireland is found guilty of a crime, including a violent crime, the Garda National Immigration Bureau will notify my Department,” she said.
“However, if the person has resided in the State for more than 10 years or is under the age of 18 years, a removal order can only be made on imperative grounds of public security. The family and economic circumstances of the person are also assessed, the nature of their social and cultural integration in the State, the health of the person and their links with their country of origin, in deciding whether or not to make such an order,” she added.
“For non-EU citizens residing in Ireland, each individual immigration case is assessed under the criteria set out in Section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended). These criteria include the age of the person, their duration of residence in the State, the family and economic circumstances of the person, their character and conduct, including any criminal convictions and considerations of national security and public policy. The individual’s ‘character and conduct’ is assessed both within and (where relevant and ascertainable) outside the State. Any and all criminal convictions are considered, including violent crime. An Garda Síochána notify my Department of matters which may be relevant to its considerations. Equally, any permission granted can be revoked if the individual fails to obey the laws of the State or becomes involved in criminal activity,” the Minister said.
“If the crime is serious or a violent crime, the person may be removed to their home Member State or deported to their country of origin.”
Minister McEntee also provided Deputy Tóibín with figures for EU citizens who were removed from the state since 2012, all of whom had criminal convictions. Some 634 people were deported, with the yearly breakdown is as follows:
|
Year Effected
|
Total
|
|
2012
|
55
|
|
2013
|
66
|
|
2014
|
88
|
|
2015
|
71
|
|
2016
|
68
|
|
2017
|
84
|
|
2018
|
70
|
|
2019
|
64
|
|
2020
|
32
|
|
2021
|
36
|
|
Total
|
634
|
Speaking to Gript, Deputy Tóibín said that Ireland was shocked by the horrifying murder of Ashling Murphy by Josef Puska.
“Many people were also shocked that Puska was a convicted sex offender in his native Slovakia before he moved to Ireland,” he said.
“Let me be clear we as a country should not be giving residency or citizenship to anyone is has been convicted for a violent crime. For to do so puts our own citizens in danger. There is no human rights or humanitarian compunction on us a country to give criminals from other countries residency,” the Aontú leader said.
“We in Aontú have been questioning the government’s action on this for a number of years. Under the European Communities Free Movement of Persons Regulations 2015, the government can make a removal order in respect of an EU national who represents a danger a to public security. Data given to us by the Minister indicates that there has been a significant fall in the use of this power by the government in the last few years. Between 2017 and 2021 there has been a 60% fall in the numbers of people that have been removed,” he said.
“Its also significant that the number of non-EU citizens have had deportation orders enforced as a result of criminal backgrounds has also taken a significant fall in recent years too,” he added.
“This may be in part because of Covid but I have no doubt that the ideology of the current government is also a contributor.”
“Shockingly the government do not even collect data on the number of international protection applicants who have been removed as a result of having a criminal record gained abroad or in Ireland. This is a dereliction of duty by the government.The government are refusing to implement even the law as it stands,” Deputy Toibin said.
A report in March of this year on a discussion paper from the Department of Justice showed that the majority of Irish deportation orders which were approved were never actually carried out. The Irish Examiner said that:
Figures from the discussion paper show that in the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic, only between 15 and 45 per cent of deportation orders were actually carried out.
In 2017 for example, there were 930 deportation orders signed but only 140 – or 15 per cent – of them were actually “effected”.
For 2019, the Minister for Justice signed off on 1,468 separate deportation orders but just 299 of them were executed, a rate of 20 per cent.
The proportion did rise higher during the Covid-19 pandemic, but only because a moratorium on signing deportations was introduced.
Last week, Minister McEntee told Gript’s Ben Scallan that there was a system of self-deportation but that if criminals failed to self-deport they would come to the attention of an Garda Síochana. However, Mr Scallan questioned whether a system was in place which checked if criminals had left the country.