The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee T.D. has today (Monday) 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. Minister McEntee has today signed two orders to give effect to these increased fines which will apply to carriers, such as airlines and ferry companies, from 12 August 2024.
Earlier this year, Minister McEntee initiated a review of Ireland’s carrier liability standards as the level of fines had remained unchanged since the commencement of the legislation 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 embarkment. The increases take account of inflation and bring Ireland into closer alignment with the penalties imposed on carriers across Europe.
Speaking today, Minister McEntee said:
“Carriers such as airlines and ferry companies play an essential role in protecting and upholding our borders and they are obligated to ensure their passengers have the necessary valid passports, ID cards and visas to travel to Ireland.
“My Department is working closely with them to support them in these obligations, including through the provision of training. However where the rules are not followed, increased fines will now apply.
“Increasing carrier liability fines brings us into line with our counterparts across the EU and are necessary to ensure that measures introduced 21 years ago retain their effectiveness.
“This is one of a number of steps which I am taking to deliver a fair, but firm immigration system. The running of doorstop operations at Dublin airport, the training of airline staff, and the posting of Gardaí to key European transport hubs, have all worked to significantly reduce the numbers presenting without appropriate documentation.
“Alongside increasing the level of penalties, I will provide additional supports to carriers to help them meet their obligations. This continued co-operation is key to upholding the integrity of our immigration system, ensuring protection for people who need it, and allowing us to quickly return those who do not qualify to be here, to their country of origin.”
The Minister intends 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.
Minister McEntee has taken a number of actions to reduce the number of people arriving without documents and 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.
Minister McEntee 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 airplanes to target those who destroyed documents inflight. 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 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.
