Gardai say UK officials have no powers here

British immigration officials have no powers to question passengers arriving at Dublin airport the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and the Department of Justice have said.

Gardaí said they would be investigating claims made by an Irish businessman that he was questioned by British officials at Dublin Airport 10 days ago, after he was referred to them by gardaí.

A Sunday newspaper reported that the businessman was handed over to the British officials when he failed to produce visual identification while going through passport control after arriving on a Ryanair flight from London.

He was subsequently let through passport control after he disputed their authority to question him on Irish soil.

The GNIB has confirmed that the officials were present at the airport from July 5th to 10th, however it said they were there purely in an advisory capacity and not to ask questions.

A spokesman for the GNIB disputed a suggestion in the article that Irish people are being randomly stopped at Dublin airport and are being subjected to questioning by immigration officers from the UK.

"They were there purely as observers, to assist us on a consultative capacity. If we had a problem we would consult with them, but they would have no reason to talk to people and they were absolutely not randomly questioning people," Det Sgt Simon O'Connor of the GNIB said.

The officials were at the airport as part of a joint Irish-British project to assess the abuse of the common travel area by illegal immigrants. The project which has been on-going for the last 12 months has involved gardaí observing the work of British immigration officials in Northern Ireland on an intermittent basis. However, this is the first time British officials have attended an airport in the State.

"We have been up to Belfast International Airport a few times and the docks in Belfast and Derry, but it's just to observe and advise, we have no power up there and they have no power down here," Det Sgt O'Connor said.

"What we have found out is that there are 12,000 to 13,000 abuses of the common travel area each year. Illegal immigrants are coming in from the back door because they have status in the UK."

It was too early to analyse the figures from Dublin airport he said, however, it was likely that the British officials would return in the coming months.

The project is due to run until the end of the year, he said.

Their visit had gone "very smoothly" and their were no complaints from the public, he added.

A spokeswoman for the British Home Office said she understood that the Garda had stopped a businessman at Dublin airport and had asked a British official his opinion on the case, however, the official had not questioned the man.

Both countries were working closely to combat illegal immigration she said.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the co-operation was necessary to control abuses of the common travel area.

He also confirmed that the British officials had no authority to question people at Irish ports.