Latest news with #EUMigrationandAsylumPact
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
High cost of IP housing 'not sustainable'
The Minister of State for Migration has acknowledged the high costs of providing accommodation for International Protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees, which he said was "neither sustainable nor acceptable in the long term". The State spent more than €401m on accommodation for International Protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees in the first three months of the year. That is according to new figures released by the former Department of Integration detailing its spending for the first quarter of 2025. In a statement, Minister Colm Brophy said the State had engaged in a series of actions to reduce these costs. He said this includes: "The purchase of State-owned facilities which will reduce costs and save the State 100s of millions in a relatively short period of time. "The renegotiation downwards of existing contracts with IPAS and Ukrainian accommodation providers. "The introduction of legislation this autumn will drastically shorten the length of time people stay in the system. This will reduce the overall costs of accommodation in the years ahead." The €401m figure is down on last year's quarterly spends on such accommodation, which ranged from €424m to €490m. Paying for private sector accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers made up 97% of the department's purchase order spends of €20,000 or more detailed in the Department report. While hundreds of providers are in receipt of Government payments, 91 were paid more than €1m in the first quarter of the year, and together the top five brought in €52.5m. Commenting on the figures, Nick Henderson, the CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, said it had always been concerned about money going straight to private providers. He said the Government's purchase of Citywest could be a step in the right direction and was likely to be better value for money for the taxpayer. The Citywest campus has been central to the Government's International Protection and Ukrainian refugee accommodation provision over the last number of years. However, Mr Henderson said this did not necessarily mean it would be a better-run facility. He said the IRC also had concerns that the border procedure, under the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, could be based in the future at Citywest. The IRC would also like to see an expansion of the remit of HIQA, which only has inspection powers for longer-term accommodation, expanded to include emergency accommodation.
Euronews
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Migration past crisis but still a big issue, says agency chief
Europe is past the worst of its peak migration flows but cannot afford to calm its efforts to deal with the issue, the head of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has told Euronews in an interview. The ICMPD is an international organisation that supports governments and institutions in developing and implementing long-term strategies to manage and govern migration. "We're not in an exceptional situation anymore,' said Michael Spindelegger, reflecting on the peak migration flows of 2015–2016 in the Vienna office of the agency, adding: 'But with nearly one million asylum applications again last year, we can't afford to calm down.' Despite a big drop in irregular migration to the EU this year, migration remains a thorny political issue in many countries. Michael Spindelegger, a former MEP from Austria, has been in charge of the ICMPD for almost a decade, told Euronews the EU is still in need of a 'balanced and creative' approach to migration policy. Spindelegger expressed support for emerging migration models, such as Italy's controversial plan to process asylum seekers in Albania—an initiative he described as 'innovative' and legally distinct from the UK's Rwanda scheme. 'The key difference is Italy remains responsible. It's their authorities running the process,' he said. 'If this works, it could be a model for other European countries.' Asked about proposals from countries like Denmark that have seen the country come up against the European Convention on Human Rights, Spindelegger was open. 'Everyone is invited to explore intelligent, modern ways of handling migration,' he said. To curb irregular migration, Denmark has deployed a mixture of policies from paying migrants to return to their home countries to the so-called "ghetto law" that aims to limit the concentration of ethnic minorities in certain neighbourhoods. Denmark and Italy published an open letter -backed by a handful of other EU nations - criticising the European Court of Human Rights for going "too far" in interpreting the law on migration matters. The recently ratified EU Migration and Asylum Pact—years in the making—has sparked division among member states, with Hungary, Poland, and the Netherlands voicing strong opposition. Still, Spindelegger called the pact a 'big step forward', dismissing claims that it's falling apart. 'There is always opposition in Europe. The fact that we reached a breakthrough after so many years of deadlock is a success in itself,' he noted. He emphasised that national initiatives like Italy's do not conflict with the pact, which is primarily about streamlining asylum procedures and strengthening border controls. On the contentious issue of returning migrants to countries deemed 'safe', Spindelegger highlighted the complexity of the debate—particularly in relation to Syria. 'It depends very much on developments on the ground,' he said. 'In parts of Syria, especially along the Mediterranean coast, conditions might be improving, but we need real guarantees for minority protection.' He urged EU states to engage directly with Syrian authorities before any broader policy shifts, warning against premature decisions. EU ministers will meet in Luxembourg next week for talks on migration and asylum. Syria's new government has agreed to give UN inspectors access to suspected former nuclear sites immediately, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said. Rafael Grossi confirmed the development after talks with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and other officials in Damascus. The UN agency's aim is "to bring total clarity over certain activities that took place in the past that were, in the judgement of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons", Grossi said. He described the new Syrian government as "committed to opening up to the world, to international cooperation", and expressed hope that the inspection process could be completed within months. In 2024, an IAEA team visited some sites of interest while former President Bashar al-Assad was still in power. Since al-Assad's fall in December, the IAEA has been seeking to restore access to sites associated with Syria's nuclear programme. Under the former dictator's rule, Syria is believed to have operated an extensive clandestine nuclear programme, which included an undeclared nuclear reactor built by North Korea in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour. The IAEA described the reactor as being "not configured to produce electricity," raising the concern that Damascus sought to construct a nuclear bomb there by producing weapons-grade plutonium. The reactor site only became public knowledge after Israel destroyed the facility in airstrikes in 2007. Syria later levelled the site and never responded fully to the IAEA's questions about it. Grossi said inspectors plan to return to the reactor in Deir el-Zour as well as to three other sites. A miniature neutron source reactor in Damascus and a facility in Homs that can process yellow-cake uranium are among the sites under IAEA safeguards. While there are no indications that there have been releases of radiation from the sites, Grossi said the watchdog is concerned that "enriched uranium can be lying somewhere and could be reused, could be smuggled, could be trafficked". He said al-Sharaa, who has courted Western governments since taking power, had shown a "very positive disposition to talk to us and to allow us to carry out the activities we need to". Apart from resuming inspections, Grossi said the IAEA is prepared to transfer equipment for nuclear medicine and to help rebuild the radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and oncology infrastructure in a health system severely weakened by nearly 14 years of civil war. "And the president has expressed to me he's interested in exploring, in the future, nuclear energy as well," Grossi said. A number of other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan, are pursuing nuclear energy in some form. Grossi said Syria would most likely be looking into small modular reactors, which are cheaper and easier to deploy than traditional large ones.
Extra.ie
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Extra.ie
Immigration Bill ‘will face appeals all the way to the EU' warn lawyers
The new international protection Bill will be appealed all the way to Europe, immigration lawyers have warned. Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan yesterday received approval for the new Bill. One of the core proposals is that oral hearings for international protection applicants appealing a refusal of asylum are set to be shelved, except in exceptional circumstances, in a bid to expedite the application process. Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan. Pic: Leah Farrell / © Yesterday, Mr O'Callaghan said the purpose of the legislation was to 'speed up the process'. He said: 'In most cases, that strict time limit will be three months. 'It will speed up considerably how people apply for asylum and have their appeals heard.' He said some appeals and applications can take up to three years. 'I want to achieve a much speedier and less costly process.' Pic: Stephen Collins / Collins Photos Under the proposals, appeal officers will make decisions based on the information on file from the initial decision and any additional written information submitted in the appeal process. The minister said: 'These reforms will continue to ensure the rights of applicants, under EU and Irish law, to be heard in the application process and to have an effective remedy in the appeal process.' However, immigration lawyer Cathal Malone said EU law ensured that an applicant must have access to legal support and oral hearings, such as an interview. He said: 'What the minister is saying now is that there will be no oral appeal in general. If you are not going to have an oral hearing with a lawyer at it, that may be fine, but you have to do the first-stage process correctly,' he said. Pic: Eamonn Farrell / © 'There physically aren't enough solicitors practising in this area to go to an interview with the number of people who will require representation in that period. 'It's not clear to me where all these experienced immigration lawyers are coming from. It's going to end up in the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and the Supreme Court. It's going to get referred to the European Court of Justice. 'If the goal is to speed things up and take lawyers out of the process, it's not going to work,' he added. Mr O'Callaghan got Cabinet approval to progress legislation that will lead to the most significant reform of asylum laws in the history of the State, in line with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, a new EU framework to manage migration and asylum. Mr O'Callaghan added: 'Implementing a firmer migration system is a key element in protecting the integrity of our immigration framework while supporting those in need of international protection. 'These important changes include streamlining the decisions process, streamlining the returns process, a new 'border procedure' with a three-month time limit for decisions, and new institutional arrangements for international protection decisions and appeals.'
Irish Times
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
International protection overhaul an ‘important step' in wider reform, Minister says
Plans for an overhaul of Ireland's international protection system have been approved by Cabinet with Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan describing the proposed legislation as 'an important next step in one of the most significant reforms of Irish asylum law in decades'. Under the plans, asylum seekers will no longer have an automatic right to a full oral hearing if they appeal an international protection refusal. The proposal to dramatically reduce the average time of the appeals process forms part of draft legislation that will also give effect in Irish law to the EU Migration and Asylum Pact which is due to start in 2026. The pact, which Ireland has fully adopted, will introduce restrictive measures to limit the number of immigrants gaining access to the European Union. READ MORE On Tuesday the Cabinet approved Mr O'Callaghan's plan to progress International Protection Bill 2025. The general scheme – or outline of the Bill – will now be referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice for pre-legislative scrutiny. One aim of the Bill is to fast-track the appeals process for international protection applications. At present, appeals on applications that have been refused can take as long as 14 months, with an average of almost nine months for all cases. The introduction of a process without oral hearings – save in exceptional cases – is likely to lead to a significant shortening of the process. Mr O'Callaghan has stated since becoming minister that he wants the entire process of first-instance decisions and appeals to be completed within three months. [ Asylum system overhaul: What is changing beyond all the talk of reform? Opens in new window ] In a statement after Cabinet Mr O'Callaghan said: 'The current international protection system is not working effectively, with decisions taking far too long. 'The pact offers us an opportunity both here in Ireland and across the EU to reset the system.' He said the changes in the Bill include 'streamlining the decisions process, streamlining the returns process, a new 'Border procedure' with a three-month time limit for decisions, and new institutional arrangements for international protection decisions and appeals'. He added: 'It is also proposed that oral hearings of appeals will be significantly more limited than at present.' Mr O'Callaghan said this would 'drive efficiency and time savings' but the reforms will 'continue to ensure the rights of applicants, under EU and Irish law, to be heard in the application process and to have an effective remedy in the appeal process. 'These changes are ultimately about giving those who are entitled to international protection the opportunity to rebuild their lives here quickly and, at the same time, ensuring faster removals in respect of those who do not meet the criteria.' [ Asylum applicants could face movement restrictions and detention in accommodation centres Opens in new window ] Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council , raised concerns about the proposed legislation, saying: 'The shift to paper-only appeals is a retrograde and regressive step, a rollback on a well established and important part of a basic asylum process. 'Removing in-person appeals in the name of efficiency is deeply concerning and is likely to backfire, including increasing applications for judicial review.' Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said Ireland's asylum process needs to be 'far more efficient', but added: 'that doesn't mean we should have one that has almost cruelty'. He said taking decision times down to three months 'seems to me something that's going to be unduly harsh'. Mr O'Callaghan later responded, telling reporters: 'I don't think it will be cruel. In fact what I think is cruel is for somebody to be in the asylum process and to have their application and consideration of it hanging over them for periods of three years. I think it is much more efficient and fair if we have an asylum process that is determined within three months.'
RTÉ News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
What can be expected from the Government's overhaul of asylum laws?
The Government has announced a major overhaul of asylum laws, billed as the most significant reform of the area in the history of the State. So what is it all about? Here we look at the International Protection Bill 2025 and what it entails. New proposed law Ireland is already obliged to redraft its immigration laws to bring them into line with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact. The pact involves the implementation of agreed procedures across the EU to provide more aligned and more effective processing of asylum applications. It also specifies mandatory shorter timeframes along with enhanced screening and security checks on those arriving at borders. Ireland agreed last year to opt into the agreement. The pact comes into force on 11 June 2026 and Ireland is required to change its immigration laws by then to align asylum processes across the EU. Today, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan published the outline of the International Protection Bill 2025 to give effect to these measures. Tighter decision making The Bill will make it unlawful if a decision is not made on an asylum border application within a period of three months, in the vast majority of cases. This deadline will apply to applicants from countries of origin with a recognition rate of 20% or less across the EU, or who have no documents or false documents, or who pose a security risk. The three-month deadline will also apply to appeals for these applicants. Some applications, however, may stretch to six months. Fewer oral hearings The other new plank to expediting decisions is the proposal to remove an automatic right to an oral hearing in an appeal. Applicants are still entitled to an oral hearing in the first instance and that hearing will be recorded with the transcript preserved. New appeals lodged after the Bill becomes law will be decided by a new entity called the Second Instance Body. This body will have access to the transcript of the first hearing. The Second Instance Body will replace the existing International Protection Appeals Tribunal for new appeals lodged after the Bill becomes law. Oral hearings at appeal stage will only be allowed under limited specific circumstances with the aim of saving time and costs. Opposition reaction Sinn Féin has accused the Government of delaying in reforming the asylum area. The party's Spokesperson on Justice Matt Carthy said the Government's migration policy was all over the place. He said: "Minister Jim O'Callaghan is talking tough, but processing is still taking far too long and deportations are not being enforced for those who do not have a right to be here. "The recent deportation flight to Georgia was simply a propaganda exercise to cover for dysfunction across the system, particularly when it comes to enforcement." However, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the new three-month deadline was cruel and lacked compassion. He said: "Imposing a three-month deadline for asylum decisions prioritises bureaucratic speed over human fairness. "International protection claims involve trauma, persecution, and complex histories. Arbitrary deadlines will inevitably lead to rushed, wrongful refusals - and the real risk of deporting people back into danger." The minister said he disagreed, adding: "What is cruel is asking someone to come into the country and then processing their application over a period of up to three years, that's where the real cruelty arises. "What we need to have is a process that gives people a quick decision. If you succeed, and are entitled to asylum you can stay, if you don't, you must leave." Detention Centres The Bill provides for the detention of applicants as a measure of last resort. The minister said today he hoped that detention centres would not become necessary but he said the proposed law was required to provide for them. Next steps The general scheme of the Bill is published today and it will go to pre-legislative scrutiny over the next few months. It is expected that the full Bill will be published in November and it must be passed into law by June 2026 in order to comply with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
