President Catherine Connolly has convened her first Council of State just six months after taking office, asking the advisory body to examine the constitutionality of the Government’s International Protection Bill 2026. The emergency meeting at Áras an Uachtaráin on Monday, 20 April 2026, brought together Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell, Attorney-General Rossa Fanning, former presidents and taoisigh, as well as seven citizens appointed by President Connolly earlier this year. The Bill, steered through the Oireachtas by Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan earlier this month, is Ireland’s transposition of the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
![President Connolly calls Council of State to vet International Protection Bill 2026]()
Amid this uncertainty, organisations and individuals can turn to VisaHQ for practical assistance. Its dedicated Ireland page (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) tracks real-time policy changes, offers customised document checklists and, when required, liaises with the Department of Justice on a client’s behalf—helping travellers and employers stay compliant whichever version of the Bill ultimately passes.
It would introduce a fast-track procedure for manifestly unfounded claims, a single three-year humanitarian residence permit, and expanded powers for Immigration Officers to make on-the-spot deportation orders at ports and airports. Opposition parties support many streamlining measures but warn of an “unacceptably short” seven-day appeals window and the removal of automatic in-country appeal rights. If the President decides, after hearing the Council’s views, that parts of the Bill may breach fundamental rights under Bunreacht na hÉireann, she can refer it to the Supreme Court under Article 26. Such a reference would trigger an expedited hearing—likely within 60 days—and, if upheld, the legislation could never again be challenged in the courts. Conversely, if the Court were to strike the Bill down, the Government would have to return to the Dáil with amendments. Since 1938, only 16 Acts have been referred; nine were upheld and seven struck out, underlining the gravity of Monday’s meeting. For multinationals that rely on Ireland’s employment-permits system and for relocation managers moving talent into Dublin, the outcome matters. The Bill promises a maximum six-month processing time for all protection cases and would free up Department of Justice staff now diverted to lengthy asylum backlogs. That, in turn, should shorten processing queues for spouse/dependent re-unification and Stamp 4 upgrades that businesses frequently cite as bottlenecks. However, the draft law also tightens permission-to-remain criteria and expands powers to detain those who over-stay removal orders—raising compliance risks for HR teams if travel documents lapse. Until the Supreme Court (or the President) gives the green light, mobility practitioners should continue to assume current rules apply but plan for potentially faster—but stricter—procedures from late 2026.
Amid this uncertainty, organisations and individuals can turn to VisaHQ for practical assistance. Its dedicated Ireland page (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) tracks real-time policy changes, offers customised document checklists and, when required, liaises with the Department of Justice on a client’s behalf—helping travellers and employers stay compliant whichever version of the Bill ultimately passes.
It would introduce a fast-track procedure for manifestly unfounded claims, a single three-year humanitarian residence permit, and expanded powers for Immigration Officers to make on-the-spot deportation orders at ports and airports. Opposition parties support many streamlining measures but warn of an “unacceptably short” seven-day appeals window and the removal of automatic in-country appeal rights. If the President decides, after hearing the Council’s views, that parts of the Bill may breach fundamental rights under Bunreacht na hÉireann, she can refer it to the Supreme Court under Article 26. Such a reference would trigger an expedited hearing—likely within 60 days—and, if upheld, the legislation could never again be challenged in the courts. Conversely, if the Court were to strike the Bill down, the Government would have to return to the Dáil with amendments. Since 1938, only 16 Acts have been referred; nine were upheld and seven struck out, underlining the gravity of Monday’s meeting. For multinationals that rely on Ireland’s employment-permits system and for relocation managers moving talent into Dublin, the outcome matters. The Bill promises a maximum six-month processing time for all protection cases and would free up Department of Justice staff now diverted to lengthy asylum backlogs. That, in turn, should shorten processing queues for spouse/dependent re-unification and Stamp 4 upgrades that businesses frequently cite as bottlenecks. However, the draft law also tightens permission-to-remain criteria and expands powers to detain those who over-stay removal orders—raising compliance risks for HR teams if travel documents lapse. Until the Supreme Court (or the President) gives the green light, mobility practitioners should continue to assume current rules apply but plan for potentially faster—but stricter—procedures from late 2026.
