Immigration Controls

Thursday, 10 September 2020

Questions (32)

Mairéad Farrell

Question:

32. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Justice if publicly available data is being collected on the nationality of those entering Ireland via flights from the United States of America. [16649/20]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

The Border Management Unit (BMU) of my Department does not record the data requested or any data on the nationality of persons arriving into the State.

Under Regulations made by the Minister for Health - Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Requirements) (Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form) Regulations 2020, S.I. No. 181/2020 - the completion of a passenger locator form became a mandatory requirement on 28 May 2020.

While the first iteration of the Passenger Locator form developed by the Department of Health contained a question on nationality, the subsequent form, which was required to be completed when completion of the form was made mandatory in May, does not contain that question. From 26 August 2020, the electronic version of the Passenger Locator Form became available, with responsibility for follow-up work thereafter lying with the Department of Health.

In order to be helpful to the Deputy, information on the daily number of passengers arriving in Dublin Airport from the USA since 24 April 2020 was sought from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, which has advised the following:

Daily Passengers Arriving from the USA

Date	Number of Arrivals
24 April	13
25 April	31
26 April	23
27 April	33
28 April	11
29 April	25
30 April	15
1 May	31
2 May	37
3 May	40
4 May	51
5 May	20
6 May	38
7 May	24
8 May	24
9 May	54
10 May	45
11 May	36
12 May	27
13 May	28
14 May	25
15 May	35
16 May	50
17 May	39
18 May	60
19 May	60
20 May	29
21 May	8
22 May	35
23 May	26
24 May	35
25 May	27
26 May	52
27 May	70
28 May	40
29 May	62
30 May	66
31 May	100
1 June	83
2 June	91
3 June	51
4 June	73
5 June	31
6 June	69
7 June	108
8 June	101
9 June	77
10 June	111
11 June	41
12 June	70
13 June	36
14 June	55
15 June	109
16 June	122
17 June	106
18 June	69
19 June	69
20 June	92
21 June	70
22 June	138
23 June	122
24 June	51
25 June	96
26 June	78
27 June	79
28 June	139
29 June	152
30 June	269
1 July	159
2 July	97
3 July	88
4 July	163
5 July	146
6 July	123
7 July	151
8 July	179
9 July	71
10 July	168
11 July	149
12 July	151
13 July	144
14 July	199
15 July	144
16 July	108
17 July	137
18 July	175
19 July	215
20 July	109
21 July	230
22 July	133
23 July	115
24 July	157
25 July	172
26 July	162
27 July	115
28 July	159
29 July	123
30 July	117
31 July	241
1 August	137
2 August	190
3 August	180
4 August	300
5 August	168
6 August	180
7 August	184
8 August	160
9 August	185
10 August	144
11 August	239
12 August	151
13 August	245
14 August	219
15 August	226
16 August	231
17 August	203
18 August	249
19 August	193
20 August	162
21 August	166
22 August	177
23 August	217
24 August	113
25 August	229
26 August	129
27 August	82
28 August	149
29 August	229
30 August	196
31 August	185
1 September	323
2 September	245
3 September	198
4 September	240
TOTAL	15607

The average daily total of Daily Passengers Arriving from the USA was 116 per day over the 134 day period from 24 April to 4 September.

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has also advised that -

- transfer passengers are not included in the arrivals statistics for airports as Ireland is not the final destination for these passengers who do not leave the airport before travelling onwards to their final destination;

- breakdown of arrivals into Ireland of Irish residents returning home or foreign residents visiting Ireland is not available; and

- all statistics set out above are provisional figures provided by the airports and are subject to change.

Question No. 33 answered with Question No. 24.