Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 January 2017
106. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the timeframe for Ireland's access to the Schengen information system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4053/17]
View answer107. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if her Department has reassessed protocols regarding the exchange of information on the Schengen information system between the UK and Ireland post-Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4054/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 107 together.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that in December 2016, An Garda Síochána entered a contract with a preferred tenderer for the development of a custom-built ICT package to link Ireland to the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). The development work up to acceptance testing and associated user training is expected to be completed during 2018. This will be followed by EU evaluations, which must be successfully completed and are expected to take a number of months.
As Ireland has not yet joined SIS, there is no SIS-based information exchange with the UK, although there are well-established channels for information exchange, including in particular with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). In advance of the commencement of the Brexit negotiations, it is too early to speculate on the architecture of crime and security cooperation between the UK and EU post-Brexit.
