International Protection Bill 2026
Public bill · Government · Presented
The International Protection Bill 2026 would replace Ireland’s current asylum law and bring it into line with new EU rules. It sets out how people seeking protection are screened, registered, interviewed and appealed; gives rules for accommodation, health care, schooling and support; and also covers family reunification, temporary protection, resettlement and return for people whose claims fail. It also creates two new bodies: a tribunal to hear asylum and return appeals, and an inspector to monitor border asylum procedures. The main aim is to make the process faster and more structured, while adding clearer checks, rights and safeguards, especially for children and vulnerable people.
Formal long title
An Act to provide for the entry into, and presence in, the State of persons seeking international protection, while having regard also to the power of the Executive in relation to these matters; to give effect to Directive (EU) 2024/1346 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (recast); to give further effect to Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and for the content of the protection granted; to give further effect to Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union and repealing Directive 2013/32/EU; to give further effect to Regulation (EU) 2024/1350 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Framework, and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1147; to give further effect to Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof; to give further effect to Regulation (EU) 2024/1351 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on asylum and migration management; to give further effect to Regulation (EU) 2024/1358 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on the establishment of ‘Eurodac’ for the comparison of biometric data in order to effectively apply Regulations (EU) 2024/1351 and (EU) 2024/1350 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 2001/55/EC and to identify illegally staying third country nationals and stateless persons and on requests for the comparison with Eurodac data by Member States’ law enforcement authorities and Europol for law enforcement purposes; to give further effect to Regulation (EU) 2024/1359 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 addressing situations of crisis and force majeure in the field of migration and asylum and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1147; to give further effect to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on the 28th day of July 1951 and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees done at New York on the 31st day of January 1967; to provide for the gathering of information from applicants for international protection; to provide for permission to enter and reside for family members of beneficiaries of international protection; to provide for the removal from the State of certain persons; to provide for the establishment of a body to be known as An Binse um Achomhairc i dtaobh Tearmainn agus Filleadh or, in the English language, as the Tribunal for Asylum and Returns Appeals and to provide for its functions; to provide for the establishment of a body to be known as Oifig an Phríomh Chigire Nósanna Imeachta Teorann um Thearmann or, in the English language, as the Office of the Chief Inspector of Asylum Border Procedures and to provide for its functions; to amend, or repeal certain provisions of, the International Protection Act 2015; to amend the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, the Child Care Act 1991, the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995, the Immigration Act 1999, the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000, the Immigration Act 2004, the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, the Children First Act 2015 and certain other enactments; and to provide for related matters.
Last updated 29 April 2026
- Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Primary
- First StageDáil
- Second StageDáil
- Committee StageDáil
- Report StageDáil
- Fifth StageDáil
- Second StageSeanad
- Committee StageSeanad
- Report StageSeanad
- Fifth StageSeanad
- EnactedEnacted
- International Protection Bill 2026: From the Seanad Dáil
- International Protection Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages Seanad
- International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) Seanad
- International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage Seanad
- International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad
- International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages Dáil
- International Protection Bill 2026: Financial Resolution Dáil
- International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage (Resumed) Dáil
- International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage Dáil
- International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage (Resumed) Dáil
- International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage (Resumed) Dáil
- International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage Dáil