22.—(1) The Minister may make such orders as appear to him or her to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of giving effect to—

(a) the Dublin Convention,

(b) Council Regulation (EC) No. 343/2003¹,

(c) the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway done at Brussels on the 19th day of January 2001,

(d) any agreement of the kind referred to in subsection (5).

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), an order under this section may—

(a) specify the circumstances and procedure by reference to which an application for asylum—

(i) shall be examined in the State,

(ii) shall be transferred to a convention country for examination or to a safe third country, or

(iii) shall be accepted for examination in the State pursuant to a request made by a convention country in which the application for asylum was lodged or pursuant to an agreement to which subsection (1)(d) refers,

and the powers referred to in this subsection shall be exercised by whichever of the persons mentioned in subsection (4)(a) is specified in the order,

(b) provide for an appeal against a determination to transfer an application for asylum to a convention country or a safe third country and for the procedure in relation to such an appeal,

(c) provide, where the order specifies that the making of an appeal shall not suspend the transfer of the application or of the applicant to the convention country or the safe third country, that such transfer is without prejudice to the appeal decision,

(d) require that an application for asylum shall not be investigated by the Commissioner until it has been decided whether a convention country is responsible for examining the application or whether the application should be transferred to a safe third country,

(e) require that an application for asylum which is being investigated by the Commissioner shall be transferred to a convention country for examination,

(f) provide that where an application has been transferred to a convention country for examination or to a safe third country the person concerned shall go to that convention country or to that safe third country,

(g) provide for the transit through the State of a person whose application for asylum has been transferred from a convention country to another convention country for examination,

(h) provide for the investigation of an application for asylum by the Commissioner notwithstanding that a convention country has responsibility for examining the application,

(i) specify the measures to be taken for the purpose of the removal of a person whose application has been transferred to a convention country or a safe third country from the State to that convention country or safe third country including, where necessary, the temporary detention or restraint of the person, and

(j) provide for the temporary detention (for a period not exceeding 48 hours) of a person who, having arrived in the State directly from a convention country or a safe third country, makes an application for asylum until a decision on the matters at paragraph (a) has been made.

(3) An order under this section may make provision for such consequential, incidental, ancillary and supplementary matters as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.

(4) (a) The persons referred to in subsection (2)(a) are the Minister, the Commissioner, and an immigration officer.

(b) The Tribunal shall consider and decide appeals under subsection (2)(b).

F64[(5)(a) The Minister may, by order made after consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, designate a country as a safe third country where the Minister is satisfied that an applicant for asylum will be treated in that country in accordance with the principles specified in paragraph (b).

(b) The principles referred to in paragraph (a) are the following:

(i) life and liberty are not threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion;

(ii) the principle of non-refoulement in accordance with the Geneva Convention is respected;

(iii) the prohibition of removal, in violation of the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as laid down in international law, is respected; and

(iv) the possibility exists to request refugee status and, if found to be a refugee, to receive protection in accordance with the Geneva Convention.

(c) The Minister shall not make an order under paragraph (a) in respect of a country unless that country and the State are parties to an agreement which provides for—

(i) the prompt transfer to that country of an application for asylum made in the State by a person who has arrived from that country, and

(ii) the prompt transfer to the State of an application for asylum made in that country by a person who has arrived from the State.

(d) An application for asylum shall not be transferred to a safe third country pursuant to an agreement referred to in paragraph (c) unless the removal to that country of the person who made the application for asylum would be reasonable on the basis of a connection he or she has with that country.

(e) An order under paragraph (a) may make provision for such consequential, incidental, ancillary and supplementary matters as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.

(f) The Minister shall, from time to time, notify the European Commission of the countries that are designated as safe third countries under paragraph (a).]

(6) (a) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by order designate the countries which are parties to the Dublin Convention or to the Agreement referred to in subsection (1)(c) or the countries to which the Council Regulation referred to in subsection (1)(b) applies.

(b) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by order amend or revoke an order under this subsection including an order under this paragraph.

(7) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section (other than an order under subsection (6)) including an order under this subsection.

(8) Where an application has been transferred to a convention country for examination or to a safe third country, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

(9) (a) The Minister shall, pursuant to Article 14 of the Dublin Convention or the corresponding provision of the agreement referred to in subsection (1)(c), communicate information to convention countries or to any relevant country pursuant to that agreement in relation to matters referred to in that Article.

(b) The Commissioner shall, pursuant to Article 15 of the Dublin Convention or the corresponding provision of the agreement referred to in subsection (1)(c), communicate information to convention countries or to any relevant country pursuant to that agreement in relation to matters referred to in that Article:

provided that information concerning the grounds on which a particular application for asylum is based or the grounds on which a decision concerning such an application is based shall not be communicated under this section without the prior consent of the person the subject of the application.

(10) The Minister and the Commissioner may communicate to a safe third country such information relating to an application for asylum or to the person making such application (including personal information) as may be necessary for giving effect to an agreement to which subsection (1)(d) refers:

provided that information concerning the grounds on which a particular application for asylum is based or the grounds on which a decision concerning such an application is based shall not be communicated under this section without the prior consent of the person the subject of the application.

(11) In this section, ‘an application for asylum’ means a request whereby a person seeks the protection of the State or a convention country or a safe third country by claiming refugee status under the Geneva Convention and includes an application for a declaration under this Act.]