More vetting needed for immigrants say JPC members

A number of members of Leitrim Joint Policing Committee (JPC) voiced concerns at a meeting last Monday that immigrants coming into Ireland are not being vetted adequately.
Cllr Sean McDermott asked if An Garda Síochána had enough resources and staff to deal with the volume of immigrants coming into Ireland in recent months and asked if it was feasible to carry out a more in-depth degree of Garda vetting on new arrivals into Ireland.
Cllr Mary Bohan said, “There are lots of cases where people may be on the sex offenders' list and may be coming from Europe or other countries or from closer countries such as England or Scotland. It is very worrying.
“How up to date is this criminal list and in particular the sex offenders' list and can people come freely into the country having this kind of record without the authorities knowing about it?” she asked.
The reply said that An Garda Síochána are aware of the “significant volume of misinformation, disinformation and fake news in circulation in relation to International Protection applicants” adding that Gardaí as well as the media are responsible for challenging this misinformation.
The response added that An Garda Síochána has “not recorded any significant increase in criminal activity or public order issues directly cause by International Protection applicants in Co Leitrim or at any other location at this time.”
It went on to say that the Gardaí has “not seen a requirement to increase Garda resources in any area directly due to the current accommodation of international applicants.”
Chief Superintendent Aidan Glacken said that those who are on the sex offenders' list that travel, “the onus rests with the sex offender to notify their jurisdiction they have left of their change of address and also to notify the authorities where they take up residency.”
Chief Supt. Glacken said that general Garda vetting is a specific function of the Garda National Vetting Bureau for the vetting of persons carrying out relevant work with children or vulnerable persons, only.
Cllr Bohan said that “it's very unlikely that someone with a criminal record is going to inform the authorities in the country they are leaving if they want to set up to do similar activity in another country” adding “it seems a poor way of doing it to me because they are obviously not going to do that.”
Cllr Justin Warnock said “the one thing that annoys every household in the country is they hear of people arriving at Dublin Airport and getting off the plane with no passport or anything else with them.”
Cllr Sean McGowan said that “there are people coming in here and they have no papers whatsoever and they should be put back on a plane and sent back to wherever they come from; it's not fair.”
He said the allocation of International Protection applicants is a matter for IPAS “with which we work with when and where we are informed in terms of allocation of personnel.”
Cllr Felim Gurn said that staff around asylum seekers and children are “not Garda vetted so there seems to be a two tier system here regarding Garda vetting.”
Cllr Brendan Barry suggested a presentation for the difference between Garda vetting for “different types of employment and providing different services and for IPAS or people coming into the country.”
He said that “people are travelling on false passports because they couldn't get out of the country where they were living because they were under threat and it complicates the whole thing.”