International Protection Act 2026

Amendment of Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

304. The Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 is amended—

(a) in section 246—

(i) in subsection (6)—

(I) in paragraph (i), by the substitution of “force;” for “force.”, and

(II) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (i):

“(j) a beneficiary of international protection within the meaning of the Act of 2026;

(k) a person who has been given, or is deemed under the Act of 2026 to have been given, a permission to reside in the State under section 204 of that Act, where the permission concerned is in force;

(l) a person who has been given, or is deemed under the Act of 2026 to have been given, a permission to enter and reside in the State under section 205 of that Act, where the permission concerned is in force;

(m) a person who has been given a permission to reside in the State under section 237 (8) of the Act of 2026, where the permission concerned is in force;

(n) a person who is a programme refugee within the meaning of Part 12 of the Act of 2026.”,

(ii) in subsection (7)—

(I) in paragraph (f), by the substitution of “1999;” for “1999.”, and

(II) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (f):

“(g) an applicant within the meaning of section 2 (1) of the Act of 2026, or a person deemed to have made an application under that Act;

(h) a person who has made, or is deemed under the Act of 2026 to have made, an application for international protection under that Act which is the subject of a final decision within the meaning of that Act rejecting the application or declaring the application to be implicitly withdrawn or explicitly withdrawn;

(i) a person in relation to whom a return decision has been made under Part 11 of the Act of 2026.”,

(iii) in subsection (8)—

(I) in paragraph (c), by the substitution of “Act,” for “Act, or”,

(II) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (e):

“(f) is granted, or deemed under the Act of 2026 to be granted, refugee status within the meaning of that Act,

(g) is given, or deemed under the Act of 2026 to be given, a permission to reside in the State under section 204 of that Act,

(h) is given, or deemed under the Act of 2026 to be given, a permission to enter and reside in the State under section 205 of that Act, or

(i) is granted, or deemed under the Act of 2026 to be granted, subsidiary protection status within the meaning of that Act,”,

and

(III) by the substitution of “declaration, permission or status” for “declaration or permission” in each place where it occurs,

and

(iv) in subsection (10), by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘Act of 2026’ means the International Protection Act 2026;”,

and

(b) in section 247D—

(i) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “Act of 2015 or section 237 (8) of the Act of 2026” for “Act of 2015”, and

(ii) in subsection (2)—

(I) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “designated accommodation centre”:

“ ‘designated accommodation centre’ means a premises designated under subsection (15) of section 237 of the Act of 2026, or deemed under subsection (16) of that section to be so designated.”,

and

(II) by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘Act of 2026’ means the International Protection Act 2026;”.