Mr. Doncha O'Sullivan:

I thank the Chair and the committee for the opportunity to discuss the current position in respect of international protection applications. I am joined by Mr. David Delaney, director of immigration service delivery and chief international protection officer, and Ms Emer Mullins, principal officer in the International Protection Office.

As the committee is aware, Ireland has obligations under EU and international law to consider applications for international protection from those who come to our country fleeing persecution. The International Protection Office, IPO, of the Department of Justice is responsible for examining all international protection applications received. The staff of the IPO are independent in the exercise of their international protection functions. The International Protection Appeals Tribunal, IPAT, is an appellate body providing an effective remedy for applicants for international protection in respect of negative recommendations of international protection officers. The committee will be aware Ireland is party to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The convention defines the term "refugee" and outlines the rights of refugees as well as the legal obligations of states to protect them. Ireland is also bound by the EU asylum procedures directive, which applies to all applications for asylum made in the territory of a member state. The directive sets out a common procedure for processing applications and provides asylum seekers with certain rights and guarantees, including the right to access the procedure and the right to remain in the member state pending the examination of an asylum application. The International Protection Act 2015 transposed the asylum procedures directive into national law and gives further effect to the 1951 refugee convention and its 1967 protocol.

Ireland, like other member states, has experienced a significant increase in the number of applications for international protection from a broad range of countries since the resumption of international travel post pandemic. To put this in context, the number of international protection applicants last year was 13,651. This figure represents a 186% increase on 2019, the most recent comparable year pre-pandemic. The Catherine Day report, with which the committee will be familiar, and its associated targets were based on an average number of applicants of 3,500 per year. Although this is a large increase for Ireland, the number of applications we are now receiving brings us more into line with the experience of other member states generally.

The Department has introduced a range of measures to deal with the increase in the number of applications. The IPO has also developed a modernisation strategy with the key objectives of further increasing the number of decisions in 2023 and continually improving the quality of that decision-making. My colleague Ms Mullins, who leads on that project, can go into more detail about it. A new modernisation team has been established to drive innovation throughout the IPO. The team will monitor progress in four key areas, namely, infrastructure, resources, process engineering and technology. Additional funding of almost €18 million provided this year for the IPO is being used to recruit a significant number of additional staff and provide additional office accommodation. As of end April, there were 289 staff in the IPO. The number of staff there has more than doubled since 2019, from 143 to 304 staff as of last Friday, and a further 23 will arrive in the coming weeks. An additional 160 contractors are also being recruited to boost the panel who conduct international protection interviews. These resources will be supported by increased training and quality control support from the UNHCR.

On 8 November 2022, the International Protection Office introduced accelerated procedures for international protection applicants from safe countries of origin. This was in response to a significant increase in the number of applications from some designated safe countries in recent years. The determination process remains the same for all international protection applicants and applicants under the new procedure will still have the same rights to appeal a negative recommendation by the IPO to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal. This new process has allowed applicants from safe countries of origin to receive a first-instance decision in less than three months, which is a significant reduction from a norm of 22 to 26 months last year. The tribunal has also been resourced to deal with an increase in the number of appeals it receives and has introduced new measures within its processes to reduce waiting times.

While the volumes of applications to the IPO have increased significantly, this did not materialise into significantly increased volumes to the IPAT until early 2023. In 2022, it received 1,180 appeals and disposed of 1,571. In recent years, the IPAT has been resourced to deliver up to 2,300 appeals per annum. A budgetary increase of €1 million was allocated for 2023, based on a forecast caseload of 3,200 appeals coming to the tribunal in 2023, which is allowing for the recruitment of ten additional administrative staff.

We are continually reviewing the resource needs at all steps in the process. This is with a view to anticipating the impact of the increase in applications at each stage and ensuring we are in a position to maintain the momentum of processing across the board. We are confident these new measures will significantly improve the operation of the international protection process and critically keep processing times to a minimum. It is important to emphasise that, notwithstanding all of the new efficiencies introduced, all applications for international protection are, and will continue to be, examined fully and individually on their merits. This includes those from countries designated as safe countries of origin. All decisions on international protection applications are made in accordance with relevant legislation and Ireland follows the guidance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, and the European Union Agency for Asylum, EUAA, in relation to claims for international protection. Comprehensive training has been provided for International Protection Office caseworkers and interviewers and is conducted in conjunction with the UNHCR. We also operate a quality assurance process with the UNHCR to ensure each decision made by the office is of the highest quality.

Finally, I acknowledge the huge efforts of staff in the International Protection Office to achieve this progress. In addition to very experienced existing staff, many new staff have joined, along with staff from around the Department who have been redeployed to assist in our efforts to reduce processing times for international protection applicants. I thank the committee again for the opportunity to set out the progress we have made in recent years. My colleagues and I look forward to going into further detail as the committee requires.