I apologise to Members of the House. My understanding was that the speech would be available immediately I began speaking. I apologise and expect the script to be available in the House very shortly.
The background to the Eurodac draft regulation may be traced back to 1996 when proposals were made during the Italian Presidency to have an EU-wide mechanism for exchanging fingerprint data. The need for this measure arose from the fact that many applicants for asylum in the European Union were not properly documented and consequently there was a lack of evidence about their identity which made it difficult to establish whether they had previously lodged an application for asylum. The objective was to establish and maintain a fingerprint system, known as Eurodac, the purpose of which is to assist in determining the member state which is responsible pursuant to the Dublin Convention for examining an application for asylum lodged in a member state and otherwise to facilitate the implementation of the Dublin Convention.
The draft regulation replaces the draft Eurodac convention and protocol which were respectively frozen when agreed by the Justice and Home Affairs Council in December 1998 and March 1999 pending the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, when a different legal base would be appropriate. The Dublin Convention, which was signed in 1990 during the Irish Presidency and which came into effect in Ireland on 1 September 1997 gives effect by the countries of the European Union to the generally recognised international principle that persons seeking asylum should do so at the first opportunity available to them.
The Dublin Convention guarantees asylum seekers who arrive in the territory or at the borders of the member states that their applications will be examined fully by one country in accordance with that country's determination procedures. Broadly speaking, the purpose of the Dublin Convention is to lay down criteria for determining which member state is responsible for examining an asylum application. The effective operation of the Dublin Convention depends on the ability to identify asylum seekers and establish their first point of entry into the EU. Problems arise when asylum seekers arrive in a member state without documentation to show who they are or where they come from. As over 80 per cent of asylum seekers currently evade immigration controls and claim to be unaware of how they arrived in Ireland, identification of the appropriate EU country under the Dublin Convention is obviously very difficult at present. Ireland fully supports Eurodac as an essential tool to assist in the implementation of the Dublin Convention and of discouraging abuse of asylum procedures. In practical terms, the Eurodac system will provide a facility to determine whether an asylum seeker or illegal immigrant has claimed asylum in another member state. Without tools such as this the whole asylum process can be brought into disrepute, and persons who should receive protection may lose out.
I stress that genuine asylum seekers have nothing to fear from this measure. It should ensure that their applications are processed speedily and that they will be accorded the necessary protection quickly. I also draw the attention of the House to Article 1(3) of the draft regulation which states: "Without prejudice to the use of data intended for Eurodac by the member state of origin in databases set up under the latter's national law, fingerprints and other personal data may be processed in Eurodac only for the purposes set out in Article 15(1) of the Dublin Convention."
The following is a brief outline of what is contained in the draft regulation. It provides for the establishment of a central computerised unit within the Commission for comparing finger prints of asylum applicants and certain other non-nationals. It further provides for the fingerprinting of three different groups of people to be transmitted to the Eurodac central unit and processed within the central database yet to be established: (a) applicants for asylum – Articles 4 to 7 – the draft regulation creates an obligation on member states to take the fingerprints of applicants for asylum and transmit them to the Eurodac central unit; (b) persons apprehended in connection with the irregular crossing of an external border – Articles 8 to 10 – the draft regulation creates an obligation on member states to take the fingerprints of persons apprehended in connection with the irregular crossing of an external border of the member state and transmit them to the Eurodac central unit to facilitate the implementation of Article 6 of the Dublin Convention which provides that "when it can be proved that an applicant for asylum has irregularly crossed the border into a member state by land, sea or air, having come from a non-member state of the European Communities the member state thus entered shall be responsible for examining the application for asylum"; (c) persons found illegally present within the territory of a member state – Article 11 – the draft regulation allows member states to use Eurodac if they wish to do so to check whether a person found illegally present in its territory has previously claimed asylum in another member state. This article does not create an obligation or a power in Community legislation for a member state to fingerprint persons found illegally within its territory. A member state can only take the fingerprints of the persons in question if it is permitted to do so under national law. No such provision exists in Irish law.
If the proposal from the Commission is ultimately adopted as a regulation it will have direct application in member states. Under Article 11 however the fingerprinting of persons found illegally present in a member state is an optional matter for each member state. Should it be decided to take the fingerprints of illegal immigrants in this situation legislation will be required to give effect to this in Ireland. There are no plans to introduce such legislation here.
The exchange of fingerprints through a central database should considerably improve the effectiveness of the Dublin Convention. It is a straightforward and efficient way of establishing the identity of asylum seekers who often lack adequate identification. In addition to establishing whether an asylum applicant has also applied for asylum in another member state Eurodac will establish whether he or she has made any previous applications for asylum under another name in Ireland. Clearly this will also assist in identifying any abuses of our welfare payments system. This regulation is necessary to allow Ireland, on the one hand, to retain its long and honourable tradition in the asylum area and, on the other, to deal effectively with abuses of the asylum determination process.
In 1998 Ireland received 64 requests for transfer from other member states under the Dublin Convention, of which 49 were accepted. In the same period Ireland made 167 requests for transfer, of which 141 were accepted. Up to 30 September 1999 Ireland received 47 requests for transfer, of which 39 were accepted. In the same period Ireland made 165 requests for transfer, of which 128 were accepted. It is obviously difficult to establish the appropriate EU country when asylum applicants do not have the documents necessary to identify from where they have come.
The total number of asylum seekers transferred under the Dublin Convention since its ratification at the end of August 1997 is 27. No transfers have taken place under the Dublin Convention to date as a result of a ruling by the High Court in respect of section 5(1)(e) of the Aliens Act, 1953. This power has now been restored by the Immigration Act, 1999, and the regulations necessary to allow deportations to resume in accordance with the procedures set out in the Act will shortly be finalised.
The numbers seeking asylum here continue to rise. The total number of asylum applicants this year has already exceeded the total figure for 1998 with 4,636 applicants to 6 October. The numbers applying during 1999 increased from 234 in January to 453 in June but jumped dramatically to 571 in July, 963 in August, 938 in September and 259 last week alone.
The task force I established to deal with this matter is dealing with new and old applications simultaneously. At the rate of progress in relation to processing cases at first instance, based on application figures up to July this year, it was intended that the task force would have dealt with the entire backlog by July 2000 and from that date would be processing applications within weeks of arrival. However in light of the unexpected increase in the number of applicants, in August and September particularly, and if this level of intake is maintained, the resources available and nature of the operation involved, this timescale for processing applications cannot be achieved without a full review of the resources available for the task. I will be keeping this situation under review and, if necessary, I will seek additional resources to ensure the steady progress in eliminating the backlog, built up principally in the 1990s, is maintained.
There have been a number of important achievements in the asylum area during the past year which emphasise Ireland's continuing commitment to a transparent and fair asylum procedure in accordance with our international obligations. In February the Refugee Legal Service, an independent, comprehensive legal service to assist asylum seekers, was established and operates from the Refugee Applications Centre in Lower Mount Street. A sum of £1 million has been provided in the Estimates for 1999 for the service, which is ring-fenced in terms of funding and resources and will not interfere with the other commitments of the Legal Aid Board. In tandem with the opening of the Refugee Legal Service I have established an independent monitoring committee to ensure a quality refugee legal service is provided and to investigate complaints from customers of the service.
I also established an interdepartmental working group to review the arrangements for integrating persons granted refugee status or permission to remain in Ireland, including the appropriate institutional structures for the delivery of these important services, which is due to report in the near future.
In February I obtained Government approval for the preparation of amendments to the Refugee Act, 1996, to make it workable. These amendments were brought forward as part of the Immigration Bill which was enacted on 27 July 1999. This clears the way for full implementation of the Refugee Act, 1996. It is hoped to have all sections commenced early in the new year. The House will be aware that detailed regulations are required for many aspects and that the Refugee Applications Commissioner and Refugee Appeals Tribunal must be appointed.
One of these amendments as set out in section 9(a) of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, provides that fingerprints may be taken by an officer authorised for the purposes of the Act of asylum seekers over the age of 14 years. Dublin Convention countries are exchanging fingerprint data of individual asylum seekers on a bilateral basis in an effort to bring more certainty into the Dublin Convention process. Because of the unavailability of fingerprint data in the State Ireland is unable to co-operate as fully with its Dublin Convention partners as those states do with each other in detecting duplicate applications EU-wide and ensuring applications are dealt with in whichever state is the proper one, which may be Ireland. My Department is working on the procedural measures necessary to implement this provision and, pending entry into force of Eurodac, it is intended to enter into bilateral agreements initially with some EU member states to exchange fingerprints of asylum applicants. It will also aid the detection of multiple fraudulent applications here.
In February I appointed two additional appeals authorities bringing the total number of appeals authorities to four. Although almost 1,000 appeals have been considered this year to date, more than 1,500 appeals are awaiting to be considered. I am making arrangements to appoint further appeals authorities to create a wider panel to be available to address this demand. My aim continues to be to minimise the time taken from the date of application to completion of the procedure in a refugee determination process which meets the highest EU and international standards.
Regrettably bogus or fraudulent claims are a feature of asylum processing systems throughout Europe. Any reasonable measures taken by member states which have the effect of speeding up the determination process and thereby quickly identifying genuine applicants are to be wel comed. My information is that all other member states have procedures in place for fingerprinting asylum seekers and the Eurodac measure will take this step further by ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin Convention are operated fairly and effectively.
The detailed aspects of the regulation to give effect to Eurodac are still subject to negotiation by member states and the relevant institutions of the Union. It is best that Ireland is in a position to influence the final outcome of these negotiations. Acceptance of this motion in this House and in the Seanad will ensure that we are well placed to do this.
I commend the motion to the House.
