DHS SECRETARY NAPOLITANO MEETS IRISH MINISTERS OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000258

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2019
TAGS: EAIR ECON PREL PGOV EI
SUBJECT: DHS SECRETARY NAPOLITANO MEETS IRISH MINISTERS OF
TRANSPORT AND JUSTICE

REF: A. DUBLIN 203

B. DUBLIN 204

DUBLIN 00000258 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: CDA Robert Faucher; Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) On June 29, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet
Napolitano met with Irish Transport Minister Nel Dempsey and
Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahen in Dublin. Dempsey and
Napolitano discussed th bilateral pre-clearance
negotiations. Dempsey oted that cooperation with the U.S.
has been admrable, but he unhapily pointed out recent "last
minute surprises," most importantly the possibility that some
flights pre-cleared in Ireland may be restricted to landing
in international airports. The Secretary said that it is
still the U.S. government's intent to allow such flights to
fly into domestic airports, presuming the final details get
resolved. The Secretary and Ahern discussed the importance
of moving ahead rapidly with both criminal and terrorist
data-sharing agreements. Ahern said that the more informal
these arrangements, the better for his government, unless
there were an overarching U.S.-EU agreement. Napolitano
stressed that the USG is moving forward with bilateral
agreements because the pace of the U.S.-EU negotiations is
too slow. Ahern informed the Secretary that the Irish
government was in the process of taking two Guantanamo
detainees, was working more cooperatively on extradition
issues, was interested in the fate of the "undocumented"
Irish, and was none too pleased with the latest Trafficking
in Persons (TIP) Tier 2 ranking. End Summary.

Transport Minister Dempsey
--------------


2. (C) Minister Dempsey highlighted the "cooperative spirit"
of the pre-clearance negotiations. However, he pointed out a
few issues that have "come up at the last minute." Most
importantly, he worried about recent information indicating
that flights pre-cleared in Ireland would not be able to land
at domestic terminals in the U.S. He indicated that
Secretary Chertoff had personally confirmed that all
precleared flights could fly to ANY U.S. airport, domestic or
international, and that this had formed the basis of the
negotiations for the Irish side. The Secretary responded it
was her understanding that it is still the case that
pre-cleared flights will be able to access any U.S. airport,
saying "that is our intent" because she expects the final
issues to be satisfactorily resolved. In widely reported
comments to the press, Napolitano re-stated Chertoff's
formulation that pre-cleared flights could go to any U.S.
airport.


3. (C) On a different topic, Dempsey referred to "assurances"
given by the U.S. side during negotiations that only one or
two bags per plane would be retrieved during check-in and
said that the carriers were concerned that the pre-clearance
program may require more bag retrievals from the hold of the
plane than previously expected. This change would be
expensive for the airlines he said, adding that since
pre-clearance is a voluntary program, the carriers might
choose not to participate if the costs became too great. The
Secretary responded that this is "more of a problem in
anticipation than in reality." Dempsey nodded, saying that
the Irish "have the same interest in making this work. We'll
figure this out."


4. (C) Dempsey said the use of dogs in the pre-clearance area
came as "a bit of a surprise and came from nowhere." He said
it was presented as "something that was simply going to
happen rather than something that was up for discussion."
Dempsey indicated that for this to work his Department would
need to have clearances from many parts of the Irish
government. The Secretary replied that, while she was not
part of the original negotiations, DHS was required to
"duplicate what we do at, say, JFK." Dempsey said he could
accept that and pointed out that an Irish team would travel
to Washington later in July for meetings to finalize
preparations for the opening of pre-clearance operations at
Shannon.


5. (C) Dempsey said that the Irish could accept some of the
outstanding TSA operational issues (e.g., the screening of
footwear) providing these took place within the pre-clearance
area. Napolitano said there should be ample room within the
confines of this area for the government of Ireland to man a
second checkpoint for U.S.-bound passengers.


6. (C) The Secretary stressed the importance of greater
information-sharing bilaterally and said she hoped that

DUBLIN 00000258 002.2 OF 002


Dempsey would discuss this with his colleagues. He said he
would. In response to Dempsey's question, the Secretary said
that, even if there is a drop-off in the number of flights
from Shannon in the winter, the U.S. government is still
committed to the program and will provide the necessary level
of staffing.

Justice Minister Ahern
--------------


7. (C) After some discussion of U.S. immigration reform
prospects, the Secretary pressed Minister Ahern on the
importance of promptly concluding bilateral agreements on
criminal and terrorist data-sharing. Ahern indicated that
the government is constrained because they have to work
within an EU context and that any official agreement would
have to pass through the Irish parliament. He indicated that
"informal arrangements are best" from his government's
perspective and that there is quite good ad hoc data exchange
between the U.S. and Irish security services. Ahern was
aware that the two sides held an initial meeting on the
sharing of terrorist information and that the U.S. was
awaiting a response to its proposal. The agreement is
currently being reviewed by the Irish Attorney General's
office, he said.


8. (C) Ahern said that the agreement's prospects were tied
into U.S.-EU discussions and inferred that the EU would take
this issue up after the next meeting of the High Level
Contact Group on data privacy. The Secretary said that the
U.S. was committed to these data privacy negotiations but
they have been going on for some time and "terrorism has not
been put on hold." For this reason, the bilateral process
needs to move forward. Ahern indicated that the current
bilateral negotiations would not be held up by the U.S.-EU
talks.

9. (C) Ahern pointed out that Irish society "was pretty open
and that, if this were to be made a formal arrangement, the
government would need to take it to Parliament." This
requirement, he said, would complicate the process. The
Secretary said that Ireland has much to gain from these
agreements as well and said both sides should get started
now. Ahern agreed.


10. (C) Ahern informed the Secretary of Ireland's
willingness to take two Guantanamo detainees (Ref B) and said
that the Cabinet took the official decision to do so just
last week. Now resolution is more of a "mechanical
exercise," he said. He also indicated that, while
extradition issues have been problematic in the past, things
are working better now and he did not foresee any more
difficulties. Finally, Ahern expressed his extreme
displeasure with the U.S. government's latest Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) report in which Ireland remained in Tier 2. He
said he was especially frustrated that his government had
taken many steps to counter human trafficking but that this
did not seem to be recognized. The Secretary indicated she
would convey the information to the Department of State.


11. (SBU) This message has been cleared by Secretary
Napolitano's staff.

FAUCHER