Peadar Tóibín has accused the Minister for Justice of not taking the enforcement of Immigration law seriously. It comes as Aontú received a parliamentary question (PQ) answer from the Minister for Justice that admits that less than 100 Gardaí are specifically tasked with enforcing immigration law in Ireland. An Teachta Tóibín has spoken to Meath Live and he said;
“It is the job of the Garda National Immigration Bureau to make sure that our immigration laws are properly enforced. They are responsible for border control. They operate immigration checkpoints at Irish airports and ferry ports other than Dublin airport. The are responsible for actioning deportation orders. They are supposed to investigate human trafficking. Shockingly figures given to Aontú by the Minister for Justice show there are less than 100 Gardaí employed to carry out this work. This is incredible given the number seeking asylum in the country is expected to double this year to 22,000 people. To put that into context, Lithuania has just under 5,000 staff dedicated to dealing with border control and migration.”
“Incredibly when you take Garda and civilian figures together Ireland has only 116 staff dedicated to one of the biggest issues facing the country. While there are also IPAS staff employed to process applications it is worth noting that IPAS has refused a request from my office for myself to visit their office to see what they do.”
“Despite the immigration figures rising significantly the number of Gardaí and civilians in the National Immigration Unit is actually falling. Last year Aontú found out by PQ from the Minister that 85% of deportation orders were never actioned in the previous 5 years. Is it any wonder when there is such a miniscule Garda unit dealing with deportations. According to the US State Department Ireland is a Tier 2 country, for the third consecutive year for people trafficking. According to a PQ Aontú received there have only been 3 convictions out of 1,000 human trafficking court cases in the last 10 years. Is it any wonder when the government wont bother resourcing the Garda unit dealing with the issue.”
“Thousands of immigrants are coming across the border with the north of Ireland every year. Many Garda stations along the border have been closed in recent years. Thousands of people are presenting at airports and ferry ports with no travel documents every year and this government won’t even take the issue of policing immigration seriously. The net result of the government being asleep at the wheel is increasing pressure coming on working class and rural areas in the desperate hunt for accommodation. Government uselessness on policing our borders is leading to chaos on our streets. Its resulting in hundreds of Gardaí being deployed at riots in places like Coolock and many getting injured.
The Minister for Justice needs to explain why she is not doing her job.” he concluded.
