The number of people arriving into Ireland without identification documents has reduced by a third in the last year, according to the Justice Minister.
Helen McEntee referenced the figure as she revealed plans to increase fines for airlines who carried undocumented passengers.
Airlines could be fined up to €5,000 if they were found carrying a passenger travelling to Ireland without valid and correct travel documents. This is an increase on the €3,000 that has been in place.
Ms McEntee said she hoped to have the legislation enacted before the Dáil recess so that it was in place for the summer.
Speaking in Trim, Co Meath, Ms McEntee said that airlines had been fined almost €1.5 million last year for carrying passengers without documents.
She said that the number of passengers travelling without identification or with false documents had fallen by more than a third in the last year.
“All of the measures that we have taken, what we know is that there has been a reduction by over a third now,” she said.
“It was a third last year, that (reduced) figure has increased this year of the number of people coming without documentation or false documentation.
“So everything from the airline fines – there was close to 1.5 million in fines applied last year – there were doorstop operations, to liaison officers, the additional gardaí.
