Fianna Fáil have laid out their plan for the proposed new department of domsetic affairs, which would aim to streamline immigration proceedings.

Fianna Fáil coalition negotiation team member Minister James Browne told The Anton Savage Show that this would allow other departments to focus on their own key issues.

“Most countries across the EU would have their own home affairs type department – and that’s our proposal, to create this department that will be able to get a coherent approach to migration, and national security as well,” he said.

“So, at the moment, while the Department of Justice is responsible for visas, you have accommodation, for example, with the Department of Children.

“I want to see the Department of Children focus on what they should be, which is children and not accommodation.

“By bringing them all together under the one department, you can actually bring real focus and real attention on what is a very important area – an area that is here to stay, and an area that we need to work with our European partners to address the issue of migration.”

29/05/2024 Dublin, Ireland. Tents belonging to asylum seekers along the banks of the Grand Canal in Dublin this morning. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie

Minister Browne said this proposed department would be a full senior ministry.

“We’re familiar with situations, for example, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is also the Minister for Defence, and they have their own departments,” he said.

“We’ve seen Minister Heather Humphreys, for example, at Social Protection and the Department of Rural Community Development.

“So, it would be the one minister over the two departments, but it would be a full senior ministry as opposed to a junior minister, with delegated functions under the Department of Justice - which would have happened in the past, but it would be the one minister.”

Constitutional limitations

According to Minister Browne, creating new departments can be complicated by Constitutional limitations.

“We are constrained by the Constitution of only having 15 senior members of cabinet,” he said.

“So, you can create as many departments as you want, but you can only have those 15 senior ministers – but obviously there’s potential for super juniors as well to have responsibility for certain areas.

“Just having its own standalone department and bringing all the different issues around migration into that one department would allow, I think, a coherent approach to it rather than the current situation of it being dispersed among different departments, which I think is not a very efficient or effective way to deal with such a serious issue.”

Minister Browne said that discussions around this proposal so far have not involved civil servants.

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