Immigration laws will “need to change” due to increasing numbers of asylum seekers crossing the Border from the North, the Taoiseach has said.
Simon Harris said a “bigger percentage” of arrivals to the International Protection Office had come across the Border in recent months.
He said this raised “very serious issues” which would require legislative change, as he said officials needed to collaborate more with their British counterparts.
It comes after Minister for Justice Helen McEntee told an Oireachtas committee that more than 80 per cent of international protection applicants in the Republic are now travelling through Northern Ireland.
Mr Harris said: “It’s definitely true to say, and I’ve discussed this with the Minister, that this has become a much bigger percentage in recent months.”
He said he wondered if the trend was a result of the State being “more effective” at imposing restrictions on other entry points.
The Taoiseach added there was a need for the State to constantly be “agile and flexible” to changing trends and flows of arrivals.
Asked about the increase in arrivals from Northern Ireland, he said: “It’s going to require legislative change.
“We’re going to need to change the law, in my view, in relation to this and we’re going to need to change it very quickly.”
He said the Republic needed provisions to return people to the UK if they already have status there.
“Our migration system is about people fleeing persecution, it’s not about a situation where you can be living safely in another country – have status potentially in that country – and then come to our country and seek immigration status”.
Mr Harris said legislating in the area was “not simple”.
He said it would not be a situation where people would be stopped crossing the “porous” Border, which he said was valued by people on the island.
“The open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is something very important to people on this island.”
Mr Harris noted that Ms McEntee would meet the British home secretary, James Cleverly, next week as he said there was a need for greater cooperation between British and Irish officials and police services.
The Taoiseach also appeared to criticise Sinn Féin’s policy on migration, after the party posted a social media video on Wednesday in which it said it opposes “open borders”.
Sinn Féin opposes open borders and advocates for a fair, efficient, and enforced immigration system that respects the human rights of those fleeing conflict and persecution.
This is why we have voted against much of the EU migration pact. @Donnchadhol pic.twitter.com/w8FvIGBrzy— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) April 24, 2024
Mr Harris said that recent comments by opposition parties are “very worrying and very peculiar”.
He said “flippant remarks and social media videos” about borders should cause concern, adding: “I would have expected better, quite frankly.
“What we don’t need is right-wing Tory rhetoric, what we do need is effective solutions.
“And what that means is greater cooperation and collaboration between the gardaí and the PSNI, between the Justice Minister and the British home secretary.”
Asked about the number of people the State had forcibly exited from the country following a deportation order, Mr Harris said it was not in Ireland’s interests to physically deport all rejected asylum seekers.
The Taoiseach said it would be an additional expense to deport an unsuccessful applicant who would otherwise leave the country.
“I think we have to be very, very clear when we talk about deportations. It’s not in the State’s interest to have to physically deport everybody.
“It is in the State’s interest to put a system in place that says: ‘You’ve a right to stay, you’re therefore welcome, let’s help integrate you into Irish society’, ‘you don’t have a right to stay, leave the country’.
“Many people do leave the country and why would we go to the extra expense of physically deporting somebody who does leave the country?”
Mr Harris said there were a number of checks carried out after a deportation order is issued to an unsuccessful applicant and that there had been recent improvements to the Republic’s immigration processing.
He also said there had been a reduction in the number of people coming into airports without documents.
