Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 January 2014
226. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the measures the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Bureau and the Garda National Immigration Bureau have taken to ensure that their respective procedures are consistent with Regulation (EU) No 604/2013; and if S.I. 423/2003 has been repealed. [1931/14]
View answer227. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the office of the refugee applications centre are now conducting interviews of persons liable for transfer; what is the scope of an appeal to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal against the decision to transfer a person; if it includes both the examination of the application of the regulation and of the legal and factual situation in the member state to which the applicant is being transferred; if the appeal has suspensive effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1938/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 226 and 227 together.
Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 was adopted in June 2013 and applies to applications for international protection lodged as from 1 January 2014. This Regulation is generally referred to as the Dublin Regulation and establishes the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person. The Regulation adopted in June 2013 is a recast of an earlier Regulation adopted in February 2003.
In accordance with Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union the Regulation has general application and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States including, in this case, Ireland.
The operation in Ireland of the Dublin Regulation is supported by the Refugee Act 1996 (Section 22) Order 2003 (S.I. No. 423 of 2003). This Order deals primarily with the functions of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and my Department in relation to the operation of the Dublin Regulation in Ireland.
Consultations between my Department and the Office of the Attorney General are ongoing in relation to changes to the national regulatory framework to facilitate the smooth operation in Ireland of the recast Dublin Regulation. It appears that the most likely outcome of these consultations is that it will be necessary to amend or replace the Order made under section 22 of the Refugee Act. In the meantime, my Department is aware of the need to ensure that the Order is operated in a way which gives effect to the recast Dublin Regulation.
