What we are doing here is putting in a definition of the Data Protection Act 2018. As I indicated, some of these are very minor technical amendments. The main amendment in this group is amendment No. 230, which proposes the insertion of a new section 224 to provide for the sharing of information by relevant bodies. The purpose of the new section is to make clear provision for the sharing of information, including per…
TDs / Jim O'Callaghan
Jim O'Callaghan
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
13
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
306,120
words spoken in the chamber
304,929 as a minister, 1,191 as a TD
360
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
8
topics asked about
Across 6 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
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Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 13 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 1,001 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 13 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 45 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 34 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 33 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 44 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 88 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 95 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 65 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 11 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 41 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 71 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 68 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 83 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 45 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 73 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 49 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 81 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 11 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 47 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 598 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
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Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Bay South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Justice 23 January 2025 to 4 June 2025
- office Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration 5 June 2025 to now
I thank the Deputy very much for his question. Obviously, in the first instance, when people arrive into Ireland claiming international protection, they are checked on Eurodac and they are screened. In respect of those processes, they are required to give biometric data. They get their fingerprints taken, they get their faces photographed and other information is taken in respect of them. They set out where they have…
The Deputies have accurately summarised the basis on which we think that 90% of applicants come in over the Border with Northern Ireland. These are people who apply at the office and do not apply at our ports. It is, therefore, a reasonable assumption that a significant majority are coming over the Border.
Deputy Carthy makes the point that individuals who were given work visas to come here might then subsequently c…
To fly from a country outside the EU into the UK, you would need a visa to enter the UK. If you are coming, say, from an Asian or African country, where there are a lot of international protection applicants, in general, you will need a visa. There are some countries for which the UK provides lots of visas. You can see that in our numbers. I am not going to start naming countries now because people will say I am pick…
I will deal with something Deputy Carthy said at the outset. He said we take at face value what applicants say. I am conscious that could be misrepresented. It is not correct. What people put down on their forms is part of the information processing, but we do not just accept, because they say they have come from Syria and are fleeing persecution, that they are fleeing persecution. The whole process is to probe that.…
We know because there is a lot of information in the Department and for a wide variety of reasons. We know individually. If people have a visa application in Ireland, when they apply for international protection we will know they had a visa previously. We have access to the information, but what Deputy Carthy is asking us to do is to set up a process of collating all that information. There is a huge amount of work g…
I thought one thing Deputy Carthy and I agreed on was that the overwhelming majority of people who claim asylum in the Republic come through the common travel area. I thought we agreed on that. Yes, we do not have the exact specifics on it-----
I thought we agreed on it. Is he now saying that is not correct, that it is not the case that the majority of people come through the common travel area? We strongly believe it is. We do not have the data he is talking about collating. I will talk to senior officials in the Department about it but I suspect it will be a huge amount of effort to collate information which ultimately will not have a huge impact on publi…
I do listen
I do not wish to respond but I will take it on board. I listened to what Deputy Carthy had to say.
They are technical drafting amendments to improve the clarity of the text and correct cross-references and minor errors.
Amendment No. 5 defines the phrase "international protection guardian" for the purposes of section 2. Later proposed amendments to the Children First Act 2015 and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 will rely on this definition. Amendments No. 13 and 14 are technical amendments that provide for updated cross-references within the Bill. Amendment No. 29 provides for the designation o…
Amendment No. 16 is a technical amendment that repeals section 20 of the International Protection Act 2015 which provides for the detention of applicants in certain limited circumstances. Following the commencement of this Bill, any applicants under that Act who are to be detained will be subject to the detention provisions of this Bill in accordance with the reception conditions directive. Therefore, it is necessary…
It does generally mean that at present. I have indicated this to the Deputy before - or I do not know if it was him - but he knows this puts pressure on prisons. I have looked before but I am going to have to start trying to identify a secure location where detention takes place but which is exclusively for immigration. That may be something at which I have to look. I am not giving a commitment to it but at present d…
If we do not have a system that allows us to detain people who are to be deported, we can never have deportation flights. I just have to be realistic about it. We could never have these flights because people are obviously not going to turn up and ask "What time is the flight leaving at?" The realistic situation is that in order to ensure that people can be subject to enforced deportations, you have to detain them in…
I hear what Deputy Gannon says. I am not going to repeat what I said earlier.
The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that section 28 reflects the requirements of the reception conditions directive.
I thank Deputy Carthy for tabling his amendment to Seanad amendment No. 44. Section 50(a) of the Bill as passed by the Dáil provides for a regulation-making power that specifies the standards to be applied to representative organisations, provisional representative persons and representative persons. I do not believe this particular amendment is necessary. Moreover, section 50(b) provides that I, as Minister, shall m…
We are talking about the Deputy's amendment. I have given my response to the Deputy's amendment.
The purpose of Seanad amendment No. 58 is to give further effect to procedures regulation provisions relating to non-entry to the State of applicants subject to the asylum border procedure. Article 43.1 of that regulation provides that the asylum border procedure may be applied only where an applicant has not yet been authorised to enter the state. It is necessary to provide in the Bill for the distinction under the …
The proposed new Part 4 of the Bill gives effect to the reception conditions provisions of the reception conditions directive. Seanad amendment No. 63 provides for the definition section of Part 4 to include definitions of "accommodation centre", "clothing allowance", "daily expenses allowance", "family member", "house rules" and "material reception conditions".
Seanad amendment No. 64 proposes that the provision of…
Where?
I thank Deputies Gannon and Carthy for their contributions. As an overview, when it comes to legislation like this, I, as Minister - I presume this is also the case for the House - have to try to balance conflicting rights. When dealing with international protection legislation, on one hand, we have to take into account the interests of the applicant claiming they are fleeing persecution or war to seek refuge in Irel…
In terms of family reunification, on 4 September last year the UK on suspended refugee family reunification.
They suspended it in the UK. An aspect of UK policy I have to be conscious of is that if something is changed in the UK which makes Ireland a more materially attractive place for persons to come, it is a factor I have to take into account. It may not sound virtuous, but I want to try to reduce numbers of peop…
I know, but it is a big obligation and it comes at a big cost. I am entitled to try to - and the Oireachtas is entitled to say that we are going t -, shift the balance slightly towards the State on those scales. It is also the case that for family members who are already here it does not apply, and, obviously, it does not apply for an unaccompanied minor who is granted status here.
I will deal with Deputy Carthy's p…