Cabinet to receive update on immigration policies

Ministers are to hear an update on a number of immigration policies as the Cabinet meets this morning.

Government will also be asked for approval to rollout an RSV vaccine for infants later this year and to hire therapists for schools on a permanent basis.

The Justice Minister Helen McEntee will update Cabinet on the EU Migration Pact, which will be debated in the Dail and Seanad this week.

She will also bring updates to Ministers about plans to increase fines for airlines which don’t do obligatory checks on travel documents, as well as the intention to raise the number of staff in the International Protection Office by 400 in the next 12 months.

She says this will allow for the number of decisions on IPAS applications will increase from 1100 to 1800 initially and then to 2200.

Also before Cabinet this morning, Education Minister Norma Foley will seek approval to hire 44 therapists for schools to help students with special educational needs on a permanent basis.

These jobs, including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and behavioural therapists, were initially supposed to be temporary positions, but the Department of Public Expenditure have granted for these roles to be expanded to permanent positions.

The Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will ask Cabinet to approve a rollout of a vaccine for RSV aimed at infants from this September.

The plan would see around 28 thousand babies born between September and February of 2025 be offered a vaccine, after there were nearly 1400 children under a year old hospitalized with the virus last year.

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