Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 January 2024
133. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, being international agreements involving a charge upon public funds, were approved by Dáil Éireann prior to the State agreeing to be bound by them, as required under Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2210/24]
View answerIn order to answer this question it is necessary to consult archived information, which is not immediately available. We will contact the Deputy directly once the information required to answer this question is to hand.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51.
This Department has carried out a search of relevant files within this Department and the National Archives, in addition to Dáil votes and debates on the Oireachtas website. From the information available, it is our understanding that, when decisions regarding accession were taken by the respective Governments at the time, neither the Refugee Convention, 1951 nor the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967 were considered to involve a charge on public funds within the meaning of Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution, such as would have necessitated prior Dáil approval being sought prior to the State becoming a party to those agreements. Accordingly, Dáil motions were not obtained in respect of them.Should you have any further queries on this matter, we would be grateful if they could be directed to the Department of Justice as the Government Department with substantive policy responsibility in this area.
