From today, people caught transporting illegal immigrants into this State will face fines of €3,000 per offence on summary conviction.
Each illegal immigrant carried will represent a separate offence.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, signed the order yesterday, bringing the new law into operation under the Immigration Act 2003. To avoid prosecution, the carrier may pay €1,500 per offence within 28 days of the issuing of a statutory notice.
Aircraft, ships and all other vehicles bound for Ireland will be subject to the new penalties if they are found to be transporting passengers with inadequate immigration documentation.
It will be an offence to fail to ensure that a passenger disembarks in compliance with directions given by immigration officers. It will also be an offence to fail to present a passenger seeking to enter the State to an immigration officer for examination.
All carriers must ensure that non-national passengers wishing to land here or pass through the State have valid passports and necessary visas.
Failing to furnish a list of passengers on board a vehicle will be an offence, as will failure to furnish details of the crew members on the vehicle.
Mr McDowell said his Department had consulted widely with carriers before introducing this legislation. "Carriers' liability is already in operation in many other states and carriers operating out of Ireland are already familiar with the requirements in terms of document checking," he said.
Mr McDowell said the Garda National Immigration Bureau would continue to help carriers to comply with the legislation.
"Inadequate document checks by carriers result in illegal immigrants arriving in Ireland. Inadequate checks also pose a potentially serious threat to the security of the State," Mr McDowell said.
