Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to begin my contribution to this important debate by moving on somewhat from discussing in detail the causes and consequences of the tragic refugee crisis unfolding in the Mediterranean and eastern Europe. I do so because, although there are many important components to the overall debate, there are many outstanding issues which need to be resolved in this State and which, if not continuously highlighted at the highest political level, will lead to even greater long-term suffering for the many more refugees and their families who are expected to arrive in Ireland over the coming months and years. They will include refugees fleeing the war in Syria and the Middle East. I want to focus instead on three key areas which need to be addressed by the Government as we go forward. We need to do so in order to make the entire refugee process here better and more humane for applicants. We need to have greater empathy as a State in this regard.

The first issue I want to raise is that of delays. I am sure Deputies are very much aware that many refugee status applicants in this country have been stuck in the direct provision system for over eight years before their applications have been resolved fully. I personally know many people who have had similar delays in reaching a final decision. While understanding the different types of application and the legal issues involved, be it subsidiary protection or leave to remain, I do not believe that delays of this length are acceptable now, nor were they in the past. The fact that such delays have been allowed to continue until now has done both the Irish State and the human beings involved no good whatsoever. I read in the Oireachtas Library that the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner believes that refugee status applications saw an increase of 126% in 2015 on the 2014 figure and that family reunification applications also increased by 63% from the previous year. Increased demand this year has clearly had a drastic effect on already long waiting times for decisions and information.

What is to be gained by leaving refugee status applicants to their own devices, often sitting bored and unchallenged in small, cramped conditions? Should there be a State intervention which would allow these people to contribute in a better way to the communities in which they live? At present applicants have no right to work here, can do very little with their time and have to make do with €19.10 per week, which they receive from the State while they wait for the decision to arrive. Who does this benefit? I am not sure if there is a precedent in Europe, but surely there must be a better way of conducting this situation for all involved while these waiting lists remain very long.

The next issue I want to raise is that of applicants' access to their legal information. At present there is a major problem with the way some legal professionals who are appointed to represent particular refugee status applicants operate. I would even go so far as to say that it is borderline negligence at times. The State pays many legal professionals large amounts of taxpayers' money in order to represent particular refugee status applicants through all stages of their application in this country. However, on many occasions in the numerous cases which I have dealt with, the applicants cannot get in contact with their solicitors. They cannot receive responses to their queries or get appointments to discuss their cases face to face with their State-subsidised legal representation. This is not good enough. Often in such situations I take the liberty to try to contact these legal offices on the applicant's behalf and even I, as an elected representative, find it difficult to break down the barriers and get a response. This issue needs to change. It should not be this difficult to access simple information. The location of these legal professionals selected is another major issue. For example, many applicants who reside in Globe House in Sligo have been appointed solicitors in Galway or Dublin or further afield. This makes the communications issue I highlighted even more difficult and only adds to the difficulties faced by refugees. The changes currently being made by the Department of Justice regarding the implementation of the new International Protection Bill need to consider this aspect closely, and measures need to be taken to make it easier for refugees to access their legal information.

There continues to be many issues with the way the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, conducts its business. As a public representative, I have made countless representations to INIS over the last five years and throughout the course of the Thirty-first Dáil. I often found the process quite tiresome. Refugees, visa applicants and other service users who have exhausted every avenue in trying to get simple information from INIS and their legal teams often end up calling to my office as a last resort to seek often very trivial information. When I write to INIS, it can take anything up to ten working days to receive a reply at peak times. I want to see a system in place whereby refugees or visa applicants are sent direct monthly updates as to the position of their appeals or applications and I believe that they should be better informed throughout the entire process of the timelines involved.

Like many of my colleagues in this House, I was very happy to support the International Protection Bill during its passage through the Oireachtas. This Bill will go a long way towards improving waiting lists and adding an extra human approach to proceedings. However, we need to see the components of the Bill introduced much more quickly. I have submitted Parliamentary Questions about the length of time it will take to introduce the Bill here and have requested details on the staffing arrangements for the new agencies which will be created. I am still unclear as to the developments. However, simply changing the names of the old agencies without adding additional staffing resources will not have any effect on the delays involved, which are caused by capacity issues. We need to put in place more quickly the proposed single mechanism structure in order to speed up the application process and cut down long delays. I also want to suggest to the Minister the need to create regional INIS and refugee status application representation offices.

That would reduce the major burden at the current locations in Dublin and also benefit applicants and citizens travelling from outside the capital.

I reiterate that any person who does not have a legal right to be in the country should be removed as quickly as possible. However, those who meet our criteria should be allowed to get through the process and begin to contribute to Irish society more quickly. There are many examples of persons who eventually got through the process, who now have Stamp 4 visas, set up their own businesses or have full-time jobs and are fully integrated into society and contributing to the economy.

It is welcome that the current system is undergoing a long overdue overhaul. However, the provision of resources at the INIS, long delays in processing applications and accessing legal information and the introduction of the new single mechanism system are major issues which needs be addressed.

See this speech in context