Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath says Ireland’s immigration policy is at ‘crisis point’ with an average of 100 undocumented arrivals every week.
In response to a parliamentary question the Newcastle based Deputy was told that 3,254 people arrived in Ireland without documentation in the first eight months of this year.
He has questioned what steps are being taken to tackle the situation.
“These individuals presented full documentation when they boarded at their point of departure. And when they arrived at Dublin Airport they had no documentation with them – none, zero.
“So what is going on Tánaiste? We’re trying to accommodate people that come and have a right to be looked after. But if they have no documentation arriving? Surely there must be some checks. That sheer amount of them in eight months is just crazy.
“Have we enough police at immigration in Dublin Airport? I don’t believe we have. But I think these are very frightening figures.”
The Tánaiste has accepted that there is a problem with people entering Ireland illegally.
“Sometimes people aren’t properly checked when they get on the plane. That happens in a different jurisdiction and there is very little we can do about that. Other times they use false documents or sometimes destroy their documents.
“If somebody presents at the airport and claims asylum and has no documents its very difficult for us to send them back.
“We have been increasing checks and increasing engagement with the airlines. Reminding airlines that they have a responsibility to not allow someone to board unless they have the right documents and then also to make sure that we have the checks in the airport as well.”
