Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 1175: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will provide the figures (details supplied) for each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1364/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy in relation to Somali asylum applications for each of the last ten years is set out in the tables.

The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the number of applications for family reunification received from Somali nationals in each of the last ten years and the number of those applications which were granted is not readily available. It would require an inordinate amount of time to obtain these figures and if they are to be provided it will distract the limited staff resources available in this work area from the processing of applications on hand. I can however advise the Deputy that there are currently 1956 applications for family reunification being processed by my Department and of that total approximately 75% are Somali Nationals.

Processing times

The average processing time for Somali asylum applications at first instance in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner was approximately five months in 2007.

The average processing time for Somali asylum applicants at the Refugee Appeals Tribunal where applicants didn't require access to previous appeal decisions was approximately six months in 2007, and eleven months in 2007 where access to previous appeal decisions was required.