The government has, today Monday August 12th, announced increases to fines imposed on carriers who do not comply with their obligations to ensure passengers have appropriate travel documentation.
The Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024, increases the fines on carriers to a maximum of €5,000 from the previous maximum of €3,000. Two orders have now been signed to give effect to these increased fines which will apply to carriers, such as airlines and ferry companies, with effect from August 12th 2024; observed by many as “closing the stable door after the horse has bolted”.
Earlier this year, a review of Ireland’s carrier liability standards was undertaken, as the level of fines had remained unchanged since the commencement of the legislation back in 2003. This review recommended an increase in penalties for carriers who do not take sufficient action to ensure passengers travelling to Ireland have appropriate travel documentation upon embarking.
These increases take account of inflation and bring Ireland into closer alignment with the penalties imposed on carriers across Europe.
It is intended to introduce further measures, including guidelines to assist carriers and consideration of the feasibility of a dynamic fines model, which recognises carriers who strongly enforce documentation requirements, at a later date.
A number of actions have been taken to reduce the number of people arriving without documents and to strengthen the immigration system as a whole.
These measures include introducing visa requirements to travel to Ireland, from a number of additional states and the expansion of accelerated processing of International Protection applications.
The government has also provided specific funding for the Garda Airport Liaison Officer programme, and increased resources for the Border Management Unit (BMU) and the International Protection Office.
BMU and Garda National Immigration Bureau carry out doorstop operations at airports to target those who destroy documents in-flight. These are intelligence led operations based on trends observed by immigration officials, who will conduct initial document checks as passengers disembark an aircraft in order to establish a person’s true identity and nationality. Approximately 4,500 ‘doorstop’ operations were carried out in the first half of 2024.
Last year, saw a reduction of one third in the number of persons arriving at Dublin Airport without the correct documentation. The numbers arriving without the correct documentation for 2024 are on-course to approximately be 50% of that in 2022.
In addition, An Garda Síochána have arrested 115 people in the first half of 2024 for arriving without appropriate documentation and a significant number have been convicted.
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