International Protection Act 2026
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Amendment of Act of 2004 | ||
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303. The Act of 2004 is amended— | ||
(a) in section 1(1), by the insertion of the following definition: | ||
“ ‘Common Travel Area’ means the State, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;”, | ||
(b) in section 3(8), by the insertion of “or the International Protection Act 2026” after “this Act”, | ||
(c) in section 4(3)— | ||
(i) in paragraph (f)— | ||
(I) in subparagraph (ii), by the deletion of “or”, | ||
(II) in subparagraph (iii), by the substitution of “State, or” for “State;”, and | ||
(III) by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (iii): | ||
“(iv) a return decision or entry ban notice that is in effect under Part 11 of the International Protection Act 2026;”, | ||
and | ||
(ii) in paragraph (l)(i), by the deletion of “(within the meaning of the International Protection Act 2015 )”, | ||
(d) in section 5(3)— | ||
(i) in paragraph (c), by the deletion of “or”, | ||
(ii) in paragraph (d), by the substitution of “that Act, or” for “that Act.”, and | ||
(iii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (d): | ||
“(e) a person who has the right to remain in the State in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 202426 establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union and repealing Directive 2013/32/EU as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/463 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 February 202627 and Regulation (EU) 2026/464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 February 202628 , and the International Protection Act 2026.”, | ||
(e) in section 7— | ||
(i) in subsection (3), by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (b): | ||
“(b) An immigration officer or a member of An Garda Síochána may search a non-national of whom a requirement is made under paragraph (a) and any luggage belonging to the non-national or under the non-national’s control with a view to ascertaining whether the non-national is carrying or conveying any documents, where— | ||
(i) it is reasonably necessary for the purpose of the enforcement of section 4, or | ||
(ii) the immigration officer or member of An Garda Síochána reasonably suspects the person has committed an offence. | ||
(ba) An immigration officer or member of An Garda Síochána may examine and retain any document produced under paragraph (a) or found on a search under paragraph (b) for as long as an officer or member considers it reasonably necessary for the purpose of the enforcement of section 4 or for as long as an officer or member reasonably suspects it to be evidence of or relating to any offence. | ||
(bb) A person who is subject to a requirement under paragraph (a) shall, if so required by an immigration officer or a member of An Garda Síochána, provide all reasonable assistance in relation to the operation of devices in which the documents are stored or access to the documents stored in those devices, including— | ||
(i) providing the documents to an immigration officer or a member of An Garda Síochána in a form in which the documents can be taken away from the place and in which the documents are, or can be made, legible and comprehensible, | ||
(ii) giving to the immigration officer or member of An Garda Síochána any password necessary to make the documents concerned legible and comprehensible, or | ||
(iii) otherwise enabling the immigration officer or member of An Garda Síochána to examine the documents in a form in which the document is legible and comprehensible. | ||
(bc) A search of a non-national’s person under paragraph (b) shall be carried out by a person of the same sex as the non-national. | ||
(bd) An immigration officer or a member of An Garda Síochána shall inform the non-national of the reasons for the search before conducting the search.”, | ||
and | ||
(ii) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4): | ||
“(5) The Minister may by regulations provide for— | ||
(a) the maximum period documents may be retained for under subsection (3)(ba), | ||
(b) the records that must be kept by the Minister or An Garda Síochána, as the case may be, of searches conducted under subsection (3), | ||
(c) the information which must be provided by an immigration officer or a member of An Garda Síochána to the person being searched under subsection (3), including information as to how the person being searched can make a complaint in relation to the search or the retention of documents, and | ||
(d) such other matters as the Minister considers necessary or expedient for the purposes of subsection (3).”, | ||
(f) in section 9— | ||
(i) in subsection (2)(a), by the insertion of “and such additional particulars as may be prescribed” after “the particulars set out in the Second Schedule”, | ||
(ii) in subsection (6)— | ||
(I) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “the age of 6 years” for “the age of 16 years”, and | ||
(II) by the deletion of paragraph (b), | ||
and | ||
(iii) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (7A): | ||
“(7B) Fingerprints shall not be taken for the purposes of registration under this section from a person who is under the age of 18 years, other than in the presence of— | ||
(a) a parent or guardian, including a person exercising parental responsibility (within the meaning of paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Hague Convention as set out in the Schedule to the Protection of Children (Hague Convention) Act 2000 ) in respect of the person who is under the age of 18 years, or | ||
(b) an employee of, or other person appointed by, the Child and Family Agency. | ||
(7C) A registration officer who is taking the fingerprints of a person who is under the age of 18 years shall— | ||
(a) before the taking of the fingerprints, explain the procedure for the taking of fingerprints to the person, | ||
(b) take that person’s fingerprints in a child-friendly and child-sensitive manner, and | ||
(c) at the time of taking the fingerprints, have completed appropriate training in relation to the taking of fingerprints from persons who are under the age of 18 years. | ||
(7D) An act required to be done under this section by a non-national who is under the age of 18 years may, where appropriate, be done on behalf of the non-national by the non-national’s parent or guardian, including a person exercising parental responsibility (within the meaning of paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Hague Convention as set out in the Schedule to the Protection of Children (Hague Convention) Act 2000 ) in respect of the child.”, | ||
(g) in section 17A(3), by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “arrangement relating to the Common Travel Area”: | ||
“ ‘arrangement relating to the Common Travel Area’ means an arrangement between the Government and the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland relating to the lawful movement of persons between the territories of the Common Travel Area;”, | ||
and | ||
(h) in section 18(1)(b), by the insertion of “or section 65 (2)(b) of the International Protection Act 2026” after “ International Protection Act 2015 ”. | ||