Airport Security

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 January 2017

Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Questions (93)

Clare Daly

Question:

93. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality whether the statement made by a PSNI detective chief superintendent at a meeting of the Northern Irish Assembly justice committee on 19 January 2017 that Border Force is based in Dublin Airport already is in reference to Border Force officials being physically stationed in Dublin Airport or in reference to information sharing between the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, and Border Force on persons passing through passport control upon arrival at or departure from Dublin Airport, or both; if, in regard to information sharing, she will detail the extent of this information sharing; if information is shared in both directions, that is, from Ireland to the UK and from the UK to Ireland; the grounds, legislative or otherwise, upon which it is shared; and the data privacy protections that must be observed by the British authorities if and when passenger information is passed to them by the Irish authorities. [3831/17]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality

There are no UK Border Force officials based at Dublin Airport. The Garda National Immigration Bureau has a secondment arrangement with UK Border Force whereby a staff member based in their Belfast office works in the GNIB Dublin Office for a few days every month on immigration matters concerning the protection of the Common Travel Area.

Naturally, there is a close operational relationship with the UK authorities in managing the security of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK. The gathering and sharing of relevant information, which is a two-way process, is an important aspect of this cooperation and there are robust and constantly evolving immigration security information-sharing arrangements in place between Ireland and the UK, including watch list sharing and biometric data sharing in relation to visa applications as part of the British Irish Visa Scheme, as well as ongoing daily cooperation at operational level. Last year, I introduced regulations which facilitate Irish registered carriers in providing Advance Passenger Information to the UK authorities (where so requested) on journeys from here to the UK.

The sharing of information is mutually beneficial to both countries in making immigration decisions both in the protection of the external perimeter of the CTA and on an intra-CTA basis. All data sharing arrangements are subject to the requirements of Irish and EU data protection law.