Helen McEntee stands over 80% figure on Northern Irish border asylum seeker crossings

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has stood over figures that suggest that 80 per cent of asylum seekers are coming over the Northern Irish border from Britain.

This is despite Tánaiste Micheál Martin saying on Monday that these figures were not based on “statistical evidence”.

It comes as Ireland and the UK continue to clash over immigration policy and whether or not asylum seekers should be “returned” back to the UK.

On her way into Cabinet on Tuesday morning, Minister McEntee insisted that the figures were correct.

“I absolutely stand over that figure,” she told reporters.

“What we know, when people do not apply for asylum at our ports of entry, so our airports or our ports, they are applying directly at our [International Protection] offices.

“Through the work of my team in those offices, it’s clear that people who are applying now, and that number has increased significantly, have come through the border.

“I absolutely stand over that figure. It has changed over time, like many migratory figures.

“What we know now is that over 80 per cent of people who are applying for asylum are applying through the office, not through the airport, not through the port.

“The information from the office is that they’re coming through the border.”

Minister McEntee is expected to bring a memo to Cabinet on Tuesday to “close the loophole” caused by the High Court decision last month

Minister McEntee was forced to defend the figures after the Tánaiste said on Monday they were “not statistical”.

A Department of Justice spokesperson told the Irish Mirror that to date in 2024, there have been 6,739 applications for International Protection at the International Protection Office (IPO).

“Of these 6,136 (91 per cent) were made at the IPO for the first time and not at a port of entry,” they said.

“There are a number of circumstances in which someone might apply in the IPO without first applying at a port of entry. They may enter at an airport with valid documentation for example but choose not to apply at that time. Or they may apply having been in the State for a period previously, for example on foot of a different permission to remain.

“However, the Department’s firm assessment, based on the experience of staff and others working in the field, and based on the material gathered at interviews, is that in most cases those applying for the first time in the IPO have entered over the land border.

“This data, and the Department’s assessment, is what the Minister was drawing on in referring to the number of arrivals over [the] land border.”

Minister McEntee will ask Cabinet on Tuesday to approve plans to “rapidly draft” legislation so that the UK can be designated a safe country for return.

Sources said last night that Minister McEntee “intends that returns to the UK will recommence once the law is enacted”.

Despite Ms McEntee’s plans, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that he is “not interested” in entering a “returns” agreement with the UK.