The number of asylum applicants in Ireland flagged on a European fingerprint database surged by almost 50 percent last year despite a sharp fall in the numbers seeking international protection.
Figures from the Department of Justice show that there were 2,315 ‘hits’ on Eurodac last year, compared to 1,558 in 2024.
A ‘hit’ on the database shows that an applicant previously applied for international protection elsewhere in the EU or crossed irregularly into another member state.
It can lead to an asylum application being deemed inadmissible or discussions with another EU state over who should deal with the case.
Of last year’s total, 384 had a “marked” hit showing they had already been granted international protection elsewhere in the EU.
That figure was up from 297 in 2024.
Successful applicants will sometimes seek asylum in a different country to be reunited with family, because of poor accommodation or homelessness, or in the hope Ireland might offer a better life for them.
The department said there had been 1,527 matches on the Eurodac database in the first half of this year.
Of those, 257 were ‘marked’ where the person already had asylum status in another EU state.
For 2025, around 17 percent of the 2,315 total fingerprint ‘hits’ involved individuals who had successfully applied for international protection elsewhere.
In 2024, the proportion was even higher – with around one in five matches involving people granted asylum.
The Department of Justice said it could not provide a breakdown of the data by nationality.
The large increase in matches on the EU fingerprint system came against the backdrop of a decline in overall numbers seeking asylum.
In 2024, there were 18,561 applications but that dropped almost 30 percent to 13,160 in 2025.
Separate figures from the Department of Justice show that there were 311 cases of what are called “inadmissible decisions” in the first half of this year.
These are cases where the person has already been granted international protection in another member state and the Irish authorities do not need to examine the substance of the asylum claim.
There were a further 390 inadmissible decisions in 2025 and 158 in 2024.