Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2024
476. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the date or respective dates by which the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas would need to be secured for any decision Government might make to opt Ireland into each of the five legal measures that form the EU Migration Pact, agreed in December 2023 under the terms of Article 3.1 of Protocol 21 annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon's three months opt-in provision. [6590/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, the overall objectives of the Asylum and Migration Pact include creating a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedures in ordinary times as well as in times of migratory pressure and crisis situations, ensuring a fair sharing of responsibility, developing robust and fair management of external borders and providing stronger governance of asylum and migration policies.
The challenges presented by irregular migration cannot be effectively addressed by any state acting alone in an increasingly globalised and interdependent world. Recognising this, the Member States of the EU have now reached a political agreement with the Parliament and the Commission on all of the measures proposed for a new Asylum and Migration Pact, which will pave the way for the adoption of these measures in the coming months. This represents an important further evolution of the Common European Asylum Policy.
In relation to Ireland’s opt-in, under Article 3 of Protocol 21 attached to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the State can chose to opt-in to a measure in the area of asylum and migration within three months of publication by the European Commission. This timeframe starts from the date the last language version of the measure is published. In the case of the Pact measures, the three month timeframe for opting-in under Article 3 expired in January and February 2021 for those measures published in 2020. With regards to the measures published in 2016 the three month time frame expired in 2016.
Alternatively, the State can opt-in to these measures at any time after they have been adopted under Article 4 of Protocol 21. As the State did not opt-in to any of the Pact measures under Article 3, we can now opt-in under Article 4 once the measures have been formally adopted, which is expected in the next couple of months. No time limit applies in respect of an opt-in under Article 4.
Member States are beginning to prepare their transposing legislation and operational systems for the Pact to go live in 2026, two years after its anticipated adoption. In order for Ireland to effectively align its law and systems with other Member States, and to implement a more cohesive migration system provided by the Pact, it is my intention to bring proposals concerning an opt-in to Government next month.
