Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 May 2022
409. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a recent review has been carried out on current strategies and protocols in relation to bringing Irish citizens home who have been stranded overseas against their will; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23000/22]
View answerIn response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, my Department undertook consular operations on an unprecedented scale in 2020 and 2021. A major element of the assistance provided was the repatriation of Irish citizens from around the world. In 2020, for example, my Department assisted more than 8,000 citizens to return to Ireland.
Informed by the particular circumstances of the pandemic, my Department now has in place a comprehensive approach to supporting, where appropriate, significant groups of Irish citizens requiring repatriation from overseas in crisis situations. In general, citizen repatriation is facilitated through commercial flight options while these remain available. The second preference is to help facilitate citizen repatriation through charter flights operated by EU partners – under the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism – or by other international partners. As a last resort, where no other options are available and where specified conditions are met, my Department may explore the chartering of an aircraft to facilitate stranded citizens to return to Ireland.
Where citizens are carried on flights chartered by the Government or by EU or other international partners, every effort is made to ensure that fares are set at a reasonable level and that passengers are billed in advance of travel. Citizens who it has been established do not have the means to pay in advance of travel, may be repatriated on the basis of an undertaking to repay the relevant costs at a subsequent time. Detailed procedures to oversee the recoupment of funds are in place.
On 4 December 2021, in exceptional circumstances, my Department arranged for a charter flight to assist 156 people to return to Ireland from Morocco, following the suspension by the Moroccan authorities of regular commercial flights. In January 2022, an internal review of that operation was conducted and a number of policy recommendations were made for the operation of future repatriation charter flights arranged by the Government. My Department will keep its approach in this area under review to ensure that the policies and protocols in place continue to provide the appropriate consular assistance to Irish citizens who find themselves stranded overseas while also ensuring robust procedures are in place to manage Government funds.
My Department does not generally offer financial assistance to Irish citizens stranded overseas. In individual cases where it has been established that a citizen cannot access funds for one reason or another, a procedure is in place for the advance of funds through our embassy network to facilitate the return of the citizen to Ireland. In such cases, funds are advanced on the basis of an undertaking to repay the relevant costs at a subsequent time, which is followed up after the citizen has returned to Ireland.
