Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

On Sunday, 14 May 2006, 34 individuals claiming to be Afghan nationals entered St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin and commenced a hunger strike, which they stated would not end until they were granted asylum or leave to remain in Ireland. There are approximately 40 such persons in the cathedral at the present time. No request has been received from the dean or chaplain of the cathedral for any form of State intervention to remove them. It is not true to suggest, as has been suggested in the House this evening, that some form of sanctuary has been offered or afforded to them.

I am advised that in respect of the individuals concerned, one person made an asylum application in late 2003, 18 people made asylum applications in 2004, 17 people made asylum applications in 2005 and four applications were made this year, one as recently as late March. Based on the information available, the Garda National Immigration Bureau believes that one individual in the cathedral may have been awarded refugee status and that one person may have been awarded leave to remain. As the majority of the cases in question are either in the asylum or leave to remain process, I am advised that on the basis of the names available to my Department at this stage, no individual has been issued with a deportation order.

It is important that I preface my remarks by pointing out that it has been the policy of successive Ministers for Justice, Equality and Law Reform not to comment on individual applications or groups of asylum claims from particular nationalities. That said, there are two fundamental principles underlying the asylum process. First, when asylum seekers come here and seek our protection, their cases are fairly and independently examined. Second, a deportation process after a person's case has been dealt with fairly and subject to the relevant statutory safeguards is central to the proper running of any immigration and asylum system.

Therefore, the task for the independent refugee determination agencies in the case of each individual asylum seeker is to determine whether, following investigation, he or she is deemed to fall within the terms of the refugee definition in the Refugee Act 1996 on the basis of all the information gleaned. As Deputies are aware, two independent statutory offices consider applications or appeals for refugee status, namely, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, known as ORAC, and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, known as the RAT. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is given full access to the refugee determination process and can examine any case at any time to ensure that fair procedures and our Geneva Convention obligations are complied with.

The asylum process in place in the State is comprehensive and compares well to many other countries, particularly our EU partners. This fact was recently acknowledged by a former UNHCR representative to Ireland who is quoted as stating that Ireland is now a model for the new member states of the European Union and that we now have "a system which in many respects is one of the best in Europe".

Every asylum application is considered on its merits. Not only is the case tabled by the applicant considered, but a wide variety of sources are also consulted by ORAC and the RAT before making a recommendation, including information from organisations such as the UNHCR, Amnesty International, other EU member states and media and Internet sources. The assessment carried out includes determining whether an applicant has a well-founded fear of persecution, whether the persecution is related to a Geneva Convention reason, whether the applicant is unable or unwilling to return to his or her own country, what internal protection alternative, if any, might be available within that country and credibility issues, which it is extremely important to consider.

Every asylum applicant is guaranteed a right of appeal to a statutorily independent and separate body, the RAT. Every asylum applicant is also guaranteed access to legal assistance provided by the Refugee Legal Service and to interpretation services. Therefore, I find it difficult to accept the suggestion that money is an issue for these asylum seekers. There is a legal service that provides assistance to all persons with stateable cases.

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