Mattie McGrath
Ceist:12. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Justice to provide an update on the latest departmental activities in the management of international protection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17721/24]
Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed)
International Protection
Will the Minister provide an update on the latest departmental activities in the management of international protection and make a statement on the matter?
My Department has taken a significant number of measures to increase the capacity of the international protection system. Reforms to this process will continue this year and beyond.
In November 2022, I introduced an accelerated procedure for international protection applicants from designated safe countries of origin. This now applies to ten countries, with Botswana and Algeria added this January. These applicants now typically receive a first instance decision in less than three months and the number of applications from these safe countries has reduced by more than 50% compared to the previous 12-month period. I am in the process of reviewing a further eight countries in terms of safe country of origin status.
Last July, I published a report on the international protection modernisation programme from 2023 to 2024. This involved unparalleled investment in staff, panel members, re-engineered processes, and technology. We have implemented measures to improve efficiencies and throughput and enhanced the application, interview and decision-making process for applicants. This has already demonstrated results, with the International Protection Office confident of delivering more than 14,000 decisions this year. Approximately €34 million in additional funding was allocated in 2024's budget. The IPO and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal will continue to scale up with this funding.
As the Deputy will be aware, we will shortly seek approval to opt into the EU migration pact. We just had discussions this afternoon and will have more next week. The pact will further enhance our capacity and build on what has been achieved. The pact will significantly reform the current approach to migration and asylum in Ireland and across the wider EU by providing a robust legislative framework to address the challenges faced in this regard. It will speed up processing of international protection applications so that we have a firmer and fairer system. Under the accelerated procedure that I mentioned, we already have the ability to turn around applications more quickly and support those who genuinely need our protection. For those who do not, the sooner we can give them a negative decision, the easier it is to remove them. The pact will introduce greater security checking of applicants.
This is a situation we cannot deal with on our own. We need co-operation and to work together, which is what the pact is proposing.
Following criticism, we have seen an increase in recent months in the Department’s activity in terms of deportation orders and so on. However, the extent of the flow of asylum seekers into Ireland, the majority of whom have previously successfully crossed the EU’s external borders elsewhere, is by no means clear. The State’s capacity to respond effectively could be affected. The new normal, according to the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, is 15,000 to 20,000 asylum and international protection seekers annually. Have we that capacity? I do not believe we do, or anything like it. We are ramping up and making a show of strength due to significant concerns, but as matters stand, no such process is envisaged.
The current indications are that the Government does not want a debate on this issue. Okay, there was a committee meeting today lasting three hours and there will be a further three hours next week, but that is for show and semantics. The Government is hellbent on opting into this pact when we should be opting out.
I will continue to be clear that this pact is not being forced on anyone. It was first presented in 2016, with a second iteration in 2020. During every stage of the debate, be it in the European Parliament, the European Council, the committee of justice or the European affairs ministers Council, which I was a member of a number of years ago, opportunities were available to Members of this House and the Seanad to discuss issues under Topical Issue Debates, Commencement matters, Private Members’ business and other forms of debate.
The pact will ensure that we have a system that is more effective than our current one. Of course, we are already working towards accelerated procedures. In the past two years alone, we have gone from processing approximately 3,000 applications per year to 13,000, with 9,000 people receiving a first instance decision last year. We have been able to increase our figures to that scale. If we opt into the EU pact in the next two weeks, which I hope we will, we will invest more to ensure we can meet the turnaround times that are set out and that we should be adhering to in the first instance.
It is clear that the Government is hellbent on opting in with no discussion. It took eight years to come up with the pact and the Minister is telling Deputies that we had ample opportunity in that time to come up with solutions, questions, Topical Issues or whatever. The Government is hellbent on ignoring the Irish people. It got its message from them loud and clear in the referendum, so why rush this through? What kind of discriminatory feeling does the Government have towards the Irish people? We are going to be forced to take thousands upon thousands of migrants inside our border. The Minister keeps saying that is not the Government’s intention, but it does intend to opt into the pact. The Government will not put the question to the people because it knows what answer it will get – it got a freagra uafásach in the referendum – so it has decided to just put it to the Houses of the Oireachtas in a set amount of time and to use the Government’s contrived majority to ensure it passes. People are concerned about this further ceding of our national sovereignty to unelected bureaucrats in the European Commission.
The people did vote for this. They voted for it in the form of the Lisbon treaty.
They did not vote for this.
The treaty clearly sets out that migration is an EU competence. What we fought for was the option to opt in. The only obligation from a constitutional perspective is that both Houses agree this. That is exactly what we are doing.
To be clear, nothing is being forced upon us. We are deciding to opt into a set of measures that we are already a member of. We have been part of a common European asylum system since 2009. This is about upgrading and improving the measures and ensuring that our system is more efficient and effective. The pact does not force anything on anyone here. It will ensure that we are in a position to provide protection more quickly to people who genuinely need it and to return those who do not – there are many – to the countries from which they came.
Questions Nos. 13 to 20, inclusive, taken with Written Answers.
An Garda Síochána
Alan Farrell
Ceist:21. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Justice to report on the number of gardaí being recruited, and attesting, in 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17838/24]
Budget 2024 provided a budget allocation of more than €2.35 billion to An Garda Síochána. A 25% increase on 2020, this will allow for the sustained recruitment of Garda recruits.
Recruitment is gathering real momentum. The number of recruits in the Garda training college continue to increase with a total of 747 trainees last year. That was the highest intake since 2018.
There are currently three classes in the Garda College, two having entered in 2023 and one earlier this month. They will be attesting in: June, September and December. Based on the current numbers of last year and this year, indications are that between 600 and 700 new gardaí will attest this year.
Earlier this month, 185 new recruits entered the college. This is the first class of 2024. This is the highest intake that we have had since the closure of the college due to Covid-19. We have further intakes planned for July, September and December of this year. The target is to try to reach that 200 figure. We have been close in this intake. There is no reason we should fail to exceed that in the next intake which would mean between 800 and 1,000, the target that we set ourselves this year, can still be achieved.
Of course, we are doing everything that we can to not only encourage more into the college but making sure that we retain those that we have, from looking at financial issues to issues around health and stress in the work while also making sure that those who want to stay longer can retire later. The later involves legislation that I will bring forward in the coming weeks to try to address that as quickly as possible.
Deputy Alan Farrell has one minute.
I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for pointing out that she had some time for me.
I thank the Minister for her response. I am encouraged by the number of recruits who applied once the age limit was changed. That is really encouraging. It is something that I had called for, along with the training allowance to take account of that older age group who may have financial commitments and for whom, therefore, quitting work and going to Templemore on a small allowance was not appealing. I am encouraged by that.
I am conscious that in the coming years the target that we have set for ourselves of 15,000 will have to be reviewed, and ongoing recruitment such as this backed up with a commitment of the monetary amounts that the Minister has outlined to the House. The €2.3 billion in 2024 is extremely encouraging. Given the need for sustainability of that funding and also the emphasis on ongoing recruitment over the coming years, it has to come out of the budgetary cycle and become an absolute standard for An Garda Síochána that we are able to keep recruitment going within Templemore to keep pace with the growing population.
Approximately 40% of the applicants in the most recent campaign were over the age of 35. It has had a significant impact on those applying.
A steering group has been established to see what more we can do around the Garda numbers around the Garda College and whether there is more that we need to do by examining hybrid training moving outside of Templemore. That might not be the answer but we need to make sure that we are looking at every option possible to increase those numbers.
A total of 15,000 was the older target. We need to go beyond that. The Commissioner has said clearly 18,000 is where we need to get and as far as I am concerned, that is the target that I am working towards.
We are certainly in a challenging situation. We are approximately 1,000 less than we would have been if Covid had not impacted recruitment in the way that it has but I am really pleased that recruitment is gathering pace. We just need to make sure that it continues at that level and, obviously, increases even more.
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Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.