In 2023, 3,285 people presented at Dublin Airport without valid travel documents. In 2022, the figure was 4,968. Under section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004, it is an offence to embark in Ireland without valid travel documents. This appears to me to be a strict liability offence. It does not really matter what someone's intention is or what the reasons are, it is an offence. If the window flies off a Boeing 737 and a passport gets sucked out, it is still an offence. It may go towards the sentence someone receives but it is still an offence punishable by up to 12 months in prison and arrestable without a warrant.

To date, one person was prosecuted in 2022. It seems this is an offence that is not being prosecuted in Ireland, for whatever reason. What I want to know from the Minister is why. We are constantly told we have a rules-based approach, and we do in some respects. Sometimes rules are applied and sometimes they are not. It is not clear sometimes why they are being applied and why they are not. I want to know why this particular offence is not being prosecuted in Ireland. It is leading to considerable disquiet. It brings the law into disrepute if there is a provision on the Statute Book that is either not prosecuted or prosecutable. I want to know what the story is with this. Not that long ago, a statute law revision was done to take off the Statute Book various provisions going back hundreds of years that were not being used. This is relatively recent legislation. It is section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004. Dublin Airport is in the Minister's constituency and, if not, it is very close to it. All of these people presented at Dublin Airport. People may present elsewhere but certainly Dublin Airport is getting most attention in this regard.

We have a rules-based system and those rules need to be enforced. There is no question about that. I have seen the reports on those arriving at Dublin Airport without travel documents. We must remember that many people who are arriving and seeking protection are fleeing persecution. I know Deputy McNamara would agree that as a country we have been welcoming and we should continue to be so. In some instances, people have very valid reasons for not having travel documents. People are fleeing countries where passports or travel documents cannot be issued. We must be aware of that. Where people seek asylum for false reasons, it deserves to be prosecuted. There is no question of that.

There has been additional training for airline staff for when people present without documentation. We have a rules-based system in Ireland. We must ensure as a State that while we are seeing a continued increase in the number of people wanting to live here and seeking asylum here, we make sure the supports are in place for them and that supports are in place for the communities who host them. I commend the communities throughout the country who, in a very short space of time, have been able to accommodate 100,000 people. Many new people will set down roots here. Their families are coming here. They are getting a welcome. Very recently, we have seen some awful situations, whereby accommodation centres and places identified for accommodation have been torched. That must be roundly condemned. It is atrocious criminal behaviour that has no place in this country.

To get back to Deputy McNamara's specific point on the law and immigration legislation, it is clear with regard to travel documentation that where someone is found to be breaking the law, they should be prosecuted and they will be. I do not have the numbers that have been prosecuted under the provisions of the Act.

I can tell the Minister that it is none.

It is certainly something I can raise with the Minister for Justice. This has been discussed at Cabinet and Government level and among our parties to make sure we have a fair system for people who come to the country. We issue approximately 60,000 work permits a year for people who choose this country as a place to live. One would not believe this is the case from listening to the previous speaker. Many thousands of people do. Many thousands of Irish people come back here. Many people from other countries want to come and live here.

That is a complete misrepresentation.

I am responding to Deputy McNamara, if the Deputy does not mind. Regarding the number of prosecutions, Deputy McNamara said there have been zero. This is something I will raise with the Minister for Justice. We have ensured that airline and immigration staff are properly and appropriately trained to deal with people coming in who are trying to get around the laws that are in place. The claims of the vast majority of people seeking asylum and protection here will be processed expeditiously and efficiently. Those who can stay should stay and should get a welcome in the country.

The Minister is conflating two slightly different things. One is a requirement to have a passport when embarking in the State and the other is the right to claim asylum. I am not saying that those who arrive without a passport do not have the right to claim asylum. They do. However, they are still subject to the laws of the land while claiming asylum, including the requirement to present a passport on arrival. It certainly is the case that millions of people throughout the world flee countries without passports but they do not get on a flight to Dublin Airport without a passport. We all know that. My question is not why people are allowed to claim asylum. Of course people are allowed to claim asylum. It is our international obligation. My question is why are people who are in breach of a strict liability offence not being prosecuted in the State? Who is giving the order not to do so? Is it coming from senior Garda management, the Garda National Immigration Bureau, GNIB, or the Government? The law is not being applied. This brings the law into disrepute at some point. The question is not why people are allowed to claim asylum. I know why they are allowed to claim asylum. We have an international obligation and as decent human beings, we have a requirement to allow people to claim asylum. Why are people not being prosecuted for presenting at Dublin Airport without valid identity documents? That is my question and I would like an answer.

I understand the question. All of us know Dublin Airport well. Deputy McNamara knows with regard to anyone who comes in without travel documents that there are GNIB officers and immigration officers who interview each of these individuals. Nobody walks straight into the country. They are interviewed. There can be valid reasons, as Deputy McNamara has also said, as to why people would not have travel documents. At the point of exiting the country, one would expect that if they are travelling from another country, they would have travel documents to get on the flight in the first instance. There can be security or personal reasons that people would not have that documentation when they arrive in Dublin. I do not have a specific answer as to why. I am sure there is no direction to say there should be no prosecutions in this regard.

Detailed interviews are held with people when they arrive in our ports and in Dublin Airport not just seeking asylum but without travel documentation. Deportations happen in Ireland too. The Deputy is aware of that as well.

There were 13 last year.

What I am saying is that we have a rules-based system. Those rules need to be and are being implemented.

I thank the Minister.

I do not have the up-to-date detail on prosecutions under that Act, but I will certainly get a response for Deputy McNamara.