James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising an important matter encountered by people who seek international protection. I am very conscious of the difficulties and trauma encountered by people who seek international protection and I am glad that, throughout the pandemic, my Department's international protection office has remained open to allow people the opportunity to do so in line with our international obligations.

The provision of the facility to allow people claim international protection is considered an essential service at all times, including during Covid-19. Staff have worked both on-site and remotely since the pandemic began to ensure the protection process continues to operate and I am grateful for their effort and dedication. Physical attendance in the office has been strictly limited in line with public health guidance. Ensuring the safety of applicants, legal representatives and staff has resulted in additional logistical challenges that have limited the processing of applications and efforts to improve processing times, including the target set to make first instance decisions in the vast majority of cases within nine months. Despite these challenges, 2,276 applications for international protection were processed to completion last year, which is just under 67% of the total achieved in 2019.

My Department's main focus now is to get its processing system functioning as effectively and efficiently as possible, while adhering to all measures in place to combat the spread of Covid-19. We continue to explore new ways of working. In-person contact and support is an indispensable part of the process, but also presents the greatest challenge at this time. From 10 May, interviews in Dublin by video link were commenced. The applicant is in one room linked by videoconference to an interviewer in another room of the same building. This is in full compliance with health and safety guidance. Interviews by video link from Cork have also resumed and we are working to expand our videoconferencing programme with a view to making interviews by videoconference a significant element of international protection operations and to use them going forward. My Department is committed to implementing the key recommendations in the expert advisory group report.

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