What is in the EU migration pact and why is it controversial?

The EU migrant and asylum pact aims to have faster processing of asylum applications, enhanced screening and security checks and quicker returns of unsuccessful asylum applicants.

But will it work? And how will it differ from the system Ireland already operates? Is there a timeline for its implementation? And why is it proving controversial – not just in Ireland but in states across Europe?

Last week the Dáil vote on it was delayed until this week following a proposal from Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton.

So why is Ireland opting in to the EU-wide system of migration control? And how will it operate? Irish Times social affairs correspondent Kitty Holland explains.