Mr. David Costello:

Bearing everything in mind, such as resources and training, the plan is that by the end of next year we should be able to process nine months from the time somebody applies. We are moving to schedule interviews more quickly now for new cases. We can do a prioritised case in four months and a non-prioritised case in ten to 12 months for scheduling and thereafter produce the decision within approximately six weeks. However, reaching a stage where everything is being done within nine months will not happen for at least a year.

One of the reasons there are asylum seekers in the system for a long time is that when the transition provisions for the International Protection Act came into effect a block of 2,000 cases that were with the former Refugee Appeals Tribunal came back to the International Protection Office to have certain protection elements of their cases heard by us. Then they went back to the tribunal to have everything done there and finalised. We had to process the backlog cases first and some of those had been in the old system for a long time. They were brought into the new system and the legacy aspects of their claim had to be done by me, and then there was an opportunity for an appeal. Similarly, there are blocks of cases that have been in the judicial review process for years and as those cases are finalised by the courts, they come back into the process to be dealt with again.

We are committed to having all the transition, carryover and backlog cases which we brought over from the old legislation finished by the end of this year. Then we plan to get to a nine-month process by the end of next year. However, it is a complex and highly legally challenging process. While we recognise that we must give people a speedy hearing, we do not want to compromise our quality either. I have the UNHCR working with me as well and there is a strong emphasis on speed of process but that must be balanced with quality of process. For example, the number of judicial reviews against my office is minuscule currently compared with what it was years ago. There were three big challenges in the process years ago - the quality of the process, an issue with recognition rates and an issue with backlogs. The big issue I deal with now is the backlogs. The quality is sorted to the extent that the UNHCR tells me that we have improved our quality greatly. I have permanently based UN staff working with me. The recognition rates when one includes relocation cases are between 40% and 50%. The backlog is the biggest challenge for us. With the increased resources and more effective work processes, without compromising quality, our main aim is to get to a nine-month process by the end of next year.