Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In recent years, I have increased investment at every level of the international protection system, including in the International Protection Office, to deal effectively with the increase in applications. As a consequence, there are now more than 500 staff based at the Mount Street premises, involved in all stages of the international protection process, from initial registration, through to interview and issuing of determinations.

The location of the office, which has been in use for this purpose for more than 20 years, is highly accessible for applicants, staff and the multiple other agencies involved in the overall process and support of those seeking international protection. Moreover, it has been configured and equipped to deal with the complex requirements for reception and interviewing of applicants. In fact, further investment is being made this winter to improve the layout and facilities of the reception area, where applicants go through the initial steps of the application process.

I can, however, advise the Deputy that, as a result of the increase in applications, my Department has opened a second processing centre to register families accompanied by children at the Citywest complex. Since this processing site was opened last April, approximately 43% of all new international protection applicants have been making their submissions there. This has significantly reduced the number of applications that may otherwise have been made at the Mount Street location. The IPO is also exploring innovative means of expanding interview and registration capacity, including piloting of remote interviews and, in the context of the migration pact implementation, co-location with IPAS accommodation centres.

These steps will likely further vary how and where my Department locates our processing but given the continued high volume of applications, and the considerable investment in the well-established capacity provided at Mount Street, there are no plans to cease to rely on that location. I acknowledge the unbelievable work undertaken by all members of the staff. We have significantly ramped up the number of people working in the office. As I have said, many of them are now working in Citywest also. Because of this hard work we have gone from processing on average 3,000 to 4,000 applications a year to this year when we will most likely process 14,000 applications. I will continue to keep under review where and how we can invest and improve the overall processing.

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