This document aims to provide an overview to help shape recommended legislative amendments. This builds upon our existing positions, including our Initial Analysis of the International Protection Bill, published at Stage two, and our analysis of the International Protection Bill for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
Many deficiencies arise not from outright contradiction of EU law, but because the Bill as drafted does not comply with national and international human rights and equality law.
This may be due to selective or minimal transposition, excessive Ministerial discretion, and / or the absence of safeguards.
Amendments should therefore prioritise:
- statutory clarity;
- enforceable rights;
- proportionality; and
- operational independence of oversight mechanisms.
The Bill requires substantial amendment to ensure alignment with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, the Constitution, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the ECHR, and the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive (2024/1712).