Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 473: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of asylum seekers here in each of the past ten years; the country of origin of each asylum seeker; the average length of time for processing each asylum application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34835/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The information sought by the Deputy with regards to the number of applications for asylum received in each of the last 10 years is set out in the following table.

The countries of origin of asylum applicants from 1997-2007 (30/11) is set out in the following table 2.

On the timescales for the processing of asylum applications, asylum applications are considered under the provisions of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended), at first instance by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and at appeal stage by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT).

The length of time taken to process asylum applications differs depending on whether an applicant is dealt with under prioritised arrangements or not. With effect from the 25 January 2005, new arrangements for the speedier processing of applications from certain countries were implemented. These arrangements apply in the main to nationals of Nigeria, Croatia and South Africa. They also applied to Romania and Bulgaria prior to their accession to the EU on 1 January 2007.

Regarding the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, in terms of time scales at first instance for Prioritised cases, an interview date is usually scheduled within 9-12 working days from the date of the initial application. These applications are normally finalised within a further 5 to 8 working days, giving an average processing time of 17/20 working days from the date of application.

In the case of Non-prioritised cases, an interview date is usually scheduled approximately 16-18 weeks from the date of the initial application. These applications are normally finalised within a further 4/5 weeks, giving a total processing time of approximately 20/23 weeks from the date of application.

The Refugee Applications Commissioner continues to keep the procedures for processing applications for refugee status in that Office under ongoing review with a view to limiting the amount of time applicants have to wait for a recommendation to be made.

The average length of time taken by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to process and complete Substantive appeals received and decided in the 12-month period ending the 30th September 2007 was approximately 18 weeks.

The average length of time taken by the Tribunal to process and complete Accelerated appeals (appeals on papers only) received and decided in the 12-month period ending 30th September 2007 was approximately 10 weeks.

The average length of time taken by the Tribunal to process and complete appeals for Prioritised cases received and decided in the 12-month period ending the 30th September 2007 was approximately 8 weeks.

While many appeals are completed in a shorter time span than above, many factors, such as adjournments, postponements and judicial reviews, can impede the Tribunal from completing cases earlier. High quality, consistent and fair decision making continues to be a high priority in the Tribunal.

Regarding improvements in Processing Timescales, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner has made significant progress in the processing of asylum applications since the creation of the office in November 2000.

In November 2000, when the ORAC was established, there were over 9,400 applications awaiting decision at first instance. As at the 30th November 2007, there were 1,219 outstanding applications awaiting a recommendation by ORAC. Of these, only 133 cases were on hands over 6 months.

The vast majority of outstanding applications at first instance are in respect of applicants who applied in 2007.

The RAT has also made significant progress in the processing of asylum applications since the creation of the office in November 2000. Prior to the establishment of the RAT, substantive appeals took on average 36 weeks to complete. As already indicated, the average processing timescale for substantive cases is now approximately 18 weeks and 8 weeks for prioritised cases.

As at the 31st October 2007, there were 3,056 appeals outstanding in the Tribunal. Of these 3,056 outstanding appeals, 1,873 were on hands over six months. A large volume of the appeals outstanding more than 6 months in the Refugee Appeals Tribunal is due to the delay in processing appeals pending the granting of access to Tribunal Decisions following the Supreme Court judgement (in the Atanasov case) on the matter. Following the judgement the RAT set up a comprehensive data bank of previous decisions of the Tribunal, suitably redacted, which is readily available for access by legal representatives of applicants. This data bank, along with other measures being applied by RAT, will be of considerable assistance in clearing the current backlog of cases.