My Department is taking action across all aspects of international protection accommodation to ensure we improve value for money, strengthen governance and compliance, and renegotiate contracts with providers. This forms part of the overall reform of the international protection system that is already working to speed up the processing of applications and move away from commercial provision to more State-owned accomm…
TDs / Colm Brophy
Colm Brophy
Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
69,320
words spoken in the chamber
68,175 as a minister, 1,145 as a TD
397
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
The record holds no parliamentary questions from them in this Dáil.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 206 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 |
| March 2025 | 2 |
| April 2025 | 12 |
| May 2025 | 34 |
| June 2025 | 8 |
| July 2025 | 12 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 1 |
| October 2025 | 14 |
| November 2025 | 12 |
| December 2025 | 10 |
| January 2026 | 14 |
| February 2026 | 30 |
| March 2026 | 11 |
| April 2026 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 0 |
| June 2026 | 0 |
| July 2026 | 3 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 12 |
| October 2026 | 28 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 124 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin South-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Justice 25 February 2025 to 4 June 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration 5 June 2025 to now
To outline the position again, we have accepted the recommendations in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report. We absolutely recognise them. We have put in place contract reviews designed to deliver genuine savings. We recognise that due to the surge that took place from 2022 to 2024, we were not in a position to have the relevant structures in place, but we now are and we are actually delivering genuine saving…
As I have said to the Deputy, all contracts we are now putting in place have checks and balances in respect of tax clearance certificates.
We are totally transparent in publishing details of all payments made, and we do that regularly. We believe the contracts we are now putting in place are absolutely clear and deliver on some of the things the Deputy is asking about.
I understand that, in the case the Deputy mentioned, the water provision issue has been completely addressed and what he described is not happening at this point. However, it is importan…
I thank the Deputy. The programme for Government contains a commitment to publish a national migration and integration strategy detailing how the Government will meet the demands and opportunities facing Ireland’s society. My Department is currently working on that with other Departments with the aim of having it published in 2026. Looking at the international student sector will obviously form part of that work.
Fo…
I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement of the fact that international students do make a contribution. They contribute in so many ways to our country. The Government is looking at student visas in the context of our national migration and immigration strategy.
For the purpose of clarity with regard to the issue of total registrations, there can be multiple registrations during a year, so the number of total regi…
It is important to examine the regulation in this area. There is quite a bit of regulation in this area. There is an allowance of 20 hours that a student can work during term time and that increases to 40 hours. It is very important that is monitored and correctly enforced.
We have changed the requirements for students in terms of the income they would have to have to sustain themselves when they come into the count…
I thank the Deputy. My Department is taking action across all aspects of international protection accommodation to provide value for money, strengthen governance and compliance, and renegotiate contracts with providers. This forms part of the overall reform of the international protection system that is already working to speed up processing of applications and move from commercial provision to State provision. These…
The Department has accepted the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and has put in place a set of updated processes and standards which will appraise offers and manage and oversee contracts. Extensive new checks and balances have been put in place to ensure high standards of oversight on invoicing. Queries and irregularities have been identified through a checklist process. These have been…
The Department is always vigilant about taxpayers' money and it is important to note we have achieved €52 million in savings in terms of contracts this year. There is a new rate card in place delivering real savings. One of the most important things we are doing is moving to State-owned, which will bring a real saving in terms of taxpayers' money. When the migration pact comes in, we will be moving to a shorter timef…
As the House has heard from my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, the justice budget of €6.17 billion for 2026 will support a robust, rules-based immigration system. The additional funding for immigration and international protection will improve our systems, speeding up processing, strengthening the return and ensuring that Ireland is fully ready to implement the EU migration and asylum pact in June 2026. …
That is not true.
As the Minister of State with responsibility for migration, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak this afternoon on what I believe is one of the most important issues facing our country, which is migration. As a Government we need to address this. We need address it with the spirit of integrity and of compassion, and with a rules-based approach, as the Minister said.
One of the things that we here in Irela…
I thank the Deputy for the question. It is a central priority for me, as Minister for State, that Ireland’s immigration system is firm, fair and effective. Returning people who do not have permission to remain in Ireland is undertaken through both voluntary returns and deportation. Both types of returns are essential for the system to work effectively and ensure confidence in the application of our legislation in thi…
To clarify, if a person has left voluntarily, he or she must provide, on foot of a request, officials with documentary evidence within three days that they have left Ireland. If they do not do so, a deportation order can be issued.
Of the 808 people who left by way of voluntary return this year up to 27 June, 615 had been refused international protection status. Since 2020, 2,300 people have left Ireland under the p…
The Deputy will be aware that we do not have an exit system for leaving our country. The reason is that there are various circumstances concerning how we manage people coming and going, particularly with the common travel area. We believe, based on clear indications, that the vast majority of people served with a deportation order do actually leave the country.
The indication is that people who are served with a dep…
Last week, I was delighted to attend the citizenship ceremonies, along with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Collins. We welcomed more than 7,500 new Irish citizens. My Department is committed to providing the best possible service to the customers of our citizenship division. We have taken significant steps to speed up the process for applicants. The steps have included the introdu…
Based on the trend in recent years, we probably will see either sustained or small increases in the number of applications. We are always looking at how the system works to try to make it work better and ensure people have a speedy response to their request. If we are looking at increased numbers, we will look at how we are handling and processing applications.
It is important to mention again that we have already m…
I acknowledge there is a gap between the ceremony and the receipt of certificate. We are working on trying to tighten up and make sure the process involves as short a wait as possible.
To deal with the issues the Deputy quite rightly raises as regards the impact this can have on some individuals, the primary allocation of resources was into shortening the time for people to receive their citizenship. We will continu…
I thank the Deputy for his question. As he mentioned, legal migration plays an essential and very positive role in Ireland's society and economy. Legal pathways are vital to addressing labour shortages in the economy.
I have been working closely with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to ensure that Ireland's legal employment pathways are efficient and as convenient as possible. In May 2024, Governm…
To give the Deputy an idea of what the next steps are, an implementation team has been established, chaired jointly with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which will commence implementation of the single permit model. The adoption of the single permit approach is expected to be done by 2027. The programme will be delivered on a phased basis. The new application platform will be developed with cust…
There is an ongoing process in the Department to reach out to try to simplify and put the application process in place. The answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". By 2027, it will be a complete one-stop shop and the process will be coming. That is the target date we are working towards for the completion of the process.
In the intervening period, my counterpart in the Department of enterprise and I are willing to…
I will begin by reiterating that it is a central priority of the Government that our immigration laws are robust and that they are enforced. Ireland is committed to the continued advancement of the common European asylum system to ensure a consistent, fair and sustainable asylum procedure at all times, not just at times of migratory pressure. Such a system demands a sharing of responsibility through mirrored approach…
I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure:
Regulation of the Eur…
I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure:
Council Recommendatio…