Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 11 Jun 1998

Vol. 155 No. 22

Illegal Immigrants.

Mr. Mooney

I welcome the Minister and thank him for extending his stay in the House. He has had a busy afternoon.

I bring this matter to the attention of the House because of what appears to be a significant increase in illegal entry by Romanian citizens who are coming to Ireland through French ports, specifically Cherbourg. Recently, a lorry driver discovered eight Romanian nationals in his truck on the Naas dual-carriageway. Through foresight and good luck he was able to bring them to the nearest Garda station. They are currently receiving the attention normally extended by the law enforcement agencies to those who enter the country illegally. I understand they have applied for residency and/or political asylum.

I wish to emphasise that I make a clear distinction between those who seek political asylum, particularly from third world countries, and others who might, in a general sense, be referred to as economic refugees. I use that term loosely because it could well have been applied to the many Irish people who legally emigrated to the United States and who made and continue to make a significant contribution to the US economy. I use the term in order to distinguish between them and the genuine asylum seekers who are among the 5,500 cases with which the Minister is currently dealing. These refugees seek asylum from political and social persecution. I have every sympathy with them and support all who come to our shores seeking refuge as, in the past, the United States welcomed those who fled persecution and torture in Ireland.

We are being penalised for our economic success to such an extent that criminal gangs now operate in Europe organising and encouraging people to enter this country illegally. Not only are they encouraging people to do so but they are putting a premium on their service and charging between 500 and 700 deutschmarks or between £200 and £300 to process people through the illegal entry system.

I am grateful that I was able to listen to the RTÉ radio programme, "Liveline, presented by Marian Finucane, when the lorry driver who found the immigrants spoke by telephone from Barcelona. His account of the incident was a great help to me in framing my contribution this evening. Not only were the eight people wearing Adidas trainers, which cost the equivalent of a week's non-contributory pension, but they were otherwise well-dressed, carrying extra clothes and had significant sums of Irish money which they had obviously acquired before they arrived here. They came through Cherbourg where they illegally entered the vehicle of the driver who then drove through the United Kingdom and crossed to Ireland. Had he been stopped in Britain and his illegal cargo found, it would have been extremely difficult for him to prove to the UK authorities that he had nothing to do with them. We know that the attitude of some elements in the UK police forces, in their dealings with Irish people, leave much to be desired. I do not wish to dwell on that aspect of the matter but I emphasise the dangers that exist for Irish citizens caught in such a situation. There was also the possibility of his being attacked.

The immigrants told the driver that they chose Ireland because they had got information about Irish welfare services on the Internet and because they had heard that the Irish Government gave "easy money". Once such people arrive in this country they are effectively on the State payroll. That is not fair to the Irish taxpayer or to the many genuine refugees who are attempting to set up a new life for themselves and their families in this country. Genuine refugees are being penalised through association with these other people for whom I have very little sympathy.

Will the Minister give us, in broad terms, his view of this recent phenomenon? Has he requested the French authorities to enhance security at the port of Cherbourg? This compete lack of security appears to be unique to Cherbourg. Lorry drivers do not report a problem at other French ports. If Cherbourg was closed to this traffic the situation would be minimised.

I am grateful to a number of people who wrote and asked if I would convey to the Minister the need to streamline the immigration process. One process involved the "user charge system". The Departments concerned are finding it difficult to provide staff resources to clear the backlog of applications. It is suggested that the payment of certain fees would help the Government to employ more staff to employ better and more reliable services to those who need them and to establish separate immigration offices to deal with the increasing flow of immigrants. This would help to clear the backlog and be less of a charge on the Irish exchequer.

I have also been asked if the Minster could look at the possibility of rationalising the various systems currently in operation. For example, immigration registration — green book applications — is handled by the Garda immigration office, work permit applications by the Department of Enterprise and Employment and business permit applications are handled by the Department of Justice. There appears to be a need to look at the current processes. I appreciate that the Minister has inherited a growing problem which would have been alien to the country five years ago. We are in a new situation and I understand the constraints on the Minister in dealing with this growing problem.

This is not about those who come to the country genuinely seeking political asylum from terror, persecution and possible death. It is about another category of people who are being exploited by criminal elements in Europe and who seem to consider Ireland a soft touch for State welfare. When one considers the calls from the social partners and politicians on the Government to respond to the needs of society and progress its policies for social inclusion, it is time we adopted a more strict approach to those who come here illegally. If they have a genuine craft, skill or profession to offer the procedure is open to them to apply for a work permit to enter the country legally.

I am grateful to the Minister for having listened to my points and I look forward to his reply.

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I share the Senator's concerns at what appears to be a well organised activity, which not only undermines immigration controls but also represents a risk to the health of those being transported and the property abused in the course of transportation.

Implementation of entry controls at the ports is a matter for the Garda, including the detection of stowaways attempting to enter the country without the necessary permission. The Senator will be aware from the media of a number of high profile incidents recently in which persons have been caught attempting to enter in lorries. There have been many others, indicating that the Garda, with the co-operation of drivers and haulage firms, are detecting not insignificant numbers of those entering illegally. The Garda is working hard to tackle this problem. I understand consideration is being given to strengthening the Garda presence at ports for immigration control purposes.

In those instances where stowaways have been found on trucks they have been refused leave to land and returned to France as soon as arrangements could be made. Persons are entitled to apply for political asylum and when they do so, the Department has specific guidelines for determining which state, under the Dublin Convention, is the appropriate one to deal with their claim. In the type of cases the Senator is talking about that state is usually another EU country and once the process is completed the person is returned to that country for determination of his or her claim.

People evade the immigration authorities which allows them to present themselves to my Department to seek asylum in circumstances where it cannot be determined with certainty whether they came through another Dublin Convention country. In these cases the application is considered in full here.

I am satisfied that the additional resources allocated by the Government to deal with the backlog of asylum cases and to process new cases promptly are starting to have a real effect. Since the start of May the additional staff, having received the appropriate training, have begun to process cases in earnest. The initial figures on the number of interviews being held and cases processed are very promising. Approximately 80 people per week are being given the substantive interview for asylum assessment purposes, and all persons who present themselves as seeking asylum are met and interviewed in a preliminary way by departmental staff and given a lengthy and detailed questionnaire to complete in advance of their substantive interview and assessment.

This means that persons not entitled to asylum here will soon be unable to rely on administrative delays as a means of staying in the state when otherwise they would not be entitled to remain here. The additional resources also mean that a genuine applicant can have his or her case processed more quickly and obtain recognition as a refugee within a reasonable timescale. This point is important and I emphasise that our approach to the question of illegal entry will not affect the entitlements of someone seeking asylum. Last month alone 11 persons were granted asylum here.

My Department is keeping the entire situation under review and examining a range of additional practical measures which might assist in combating smuggling. In this regard we are looking at the experience of other countries, including the UK, in dealing with similar situations at ports. Appropriate technological and operational techniques are being researched and evaluated and, if they appear to be of value, will be introduced in consultation with the Garda. Contact has been made with other agencies involved in the regulation of commercial transportation with a view to reducing the abuse of legitimate hauliers' vehicles.

One of the recommendations of the interdepartmental committee on immigration, asylum and related issues was that traffic in illegal immigrants be criminalised. The Government accepted this recommendation and work on provisions for its inclusion in an illegal immigrants trafficking Bill, which will give effect to the recommendation, is at an advanced stage in my Department. It is intended that these measures will be introduced as soon as possible. These powers will increase greatly the ability of the Garda to pursue persons involved in this trade and persons who employ illegal entrants.

I confirm that the Garda has been asked to use its French police contacts to see whether the specific case of security at Cherbourg can be addressed effectively. My Department is approaching this concern on a number of different fronts and is reviewing all its options on a constant basis.

The Seanad adjourned at 7.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 12 June 1998.