Ms Oonagh McPhillips:

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity. It is really important to note that is no longer the case. Some 2% of applications are waiting more than two years and 0.2% are waiting more than five years. That is for a first-instance decision. That is a very significant change over the last year or so. Therefore, 98% are waiting less than two years. It is important to say that. While it certainly was the case that there were huge delays in the past, that is being addressed. The International Protection Office, IPO, made twice as many decisions last year as it did in 2021. There is a real impact in terms of resources but also in terms of doing things differently.

We did an end-to-end review of the process and listened to our customers in terms of their experiences. The Deputy is absolutely right; speeding up the process is key. Every review we have ever done of asylum and international protection says that is the key to everything. Going back to the Dr. Bryan McMahon report in 2014 or 2015, that is what that report said and it is what Dr. Catherine Day said. That is what our customers said to us in the end-to-end review as well so that is what we are doing at the moment. The volume of decisions that have been made-----