Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 550: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the recommendations contained in a report (details supplied) on the asylum system in this country; the steps which are being taken to implement these; the cost of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26040/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The report of the Value for Money (VFM) review of Asylum and Immigration was published on my Department's website in November 2006.

The Review was carried out during a period of significant change, a key feature of which was falling numbers of asylum applications in the State and very significant increases in numbers for other immigration services. The review involved a combination of, inter alia, financial and business analysis, resource mapping and allocation modelling and performance management. The outcome of the review was a comprehensive series of recommendations clustered around nine key areas.

A unique feature of the review was that it was a dynamic constantly evolving process. As recommendations were agreed, the implementation cycle also began. This meant that by the end of the Review, all of the recommendations had been accepted and implemented or were at early stages of implementation. A key driver in the implementation of these recommendations was the establishment of the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) in early 2005.

A framework for the ongoing implementation of the recommendations arising from the Review has been in place since early 2007 in the form of a major Change Management initiative. This initiative included the establishment of a dedicated Change Management Unit in February 2007. The work of the Unit involves the co-ordination of the INIS Change Management Programme under the direction of a Change Management Project Board. The Change Management Project Board is chaired by the Director General of the INIS and includes the senior management of all agencies/ divisions in INIS. The key drivers of the change programme are:

the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008;

IT developments;

structural changes to INIS business units and procedures arising from the Bill, increased business volumes and the need to improve staff development and customer services.

Six project teams have been established to support the implementation of the Change Management Programme as follows:

1. Immigration Policy and Operations

2. Single Procedure Transition Team

3. Shared Services and Structures

4. Communications and Training

5. Removals Policy and Operations

6. IT and Interoperability

The Project Teams report to the Change Management Project Board.

With regard to the Deputy's specific query concerning the recommendations in the VFM Report on the asylum system and the actions taken to date to implement them, the position is as follows:

Recommendation 1.

Redeploy staff from the asylum agencies into DJELR Visa, Immigration and Citizenship. Staff may be redeployed due to a 40% reduction in the volume of asylum applications between 2003 and 2004.

Actions to date: The Report set out a framework for the re-deployment of some 140 posts from the asylum area to other immigration functions such as visa processing, citizenship services and repatriation. This strategy for the movement of large numbers of staff to address changing demands for the various services provided by the INIS — which is indicated by a fall in asylum numbers and an increase in demands for other immigration services — has been ongoing for some time now. Over 120 posts have been transferred to date from the asylum area to the broader immigration function.

Recommendation 2.

Introduce a Shared Corporate Services to provide the necessary corporate support for the immigration and asylum areas in the Department, ORAC, RAT and RIA.

Actions to date: INIS has established a Corporate Support Division to deal with accommodation, finance and personnel matters, management information and co-ordination functions. It is intended to bring all corporate support matters in ORAC and RAT under its control in due course having particular regard to the proposed new processing framework in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008. Under the Bill, which is currently at Committee Stage in this House, the functions currently carried out by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) will be subsumed into the INIS. The Bill also provides for the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to be replaced by a statutory independent Protection Review Tribunal.

IT services for INIS have also been centralised in the Department's IT Division with policy matters on IT developments being handled by relevant Divisions in INIS. The support of the new AISIP (Asylum and Immigration Strategic Integration Programme) IT System is also being planned with a shared services ethos in mind. The Department's IT Division will be the hub for these services, which will include upgrading centralised management reporting services.

Recommendation 3.

Establish a central source for the Country of Origin (COI) information supply, further consolidate research activities and performance improvement across the agencies and DJELR.

Action to date: It has been decided that the Refugee Documentation Centre (RDC) which operates under the auspices of the Legal Aid Board will act as the central COI source for the INIS.

A new Country of Origin Document and Library Management System has been developed to enhance the operational capacity of the RDC as part of the AISIP Project (Recommendation 7). This new system was launched in September 2007. The system enables users to view the RDC library catalogue, COI documents and published 'anonymised' queries from their desktop via a single user interface.

Recommendation 7.

Provide a single view of the client through an integrated case management, workflow and scanning system for the entire process of immigration and asylum.

Actions to date: The contract for the development of a new case management system for the asylum and immigration areas (project name AISIP — Asylum and Immigration Strategic Integration Programme) has been signed and work has commenced. The key modules in the AISIP System are:

A Case Management System

An Accommodation Management System

A Country of Origin and Library Information System

A File Tracking System

These modules will be integrated so as to provide an immediate overview of any case. Consequently, details of a case from one end of a process right through to the other end will be available (for example from asylum to refugee status to citizenship). The delivery of the AISIP Project will greatly enhance the business capacity and the effectiveness of the INIS. INIS will be moving from a number of aging, unlinked systems to a modern user-friendly integrated IT system. The new system will ensure that INIS will have the ability to handle increasing workloads more efficiently, that more informed security decisions can be made and enhanced customer service delivered.

Development work commenced on 1 January, 2007 and since then the Country of Origin and Library Management System has been rolled out to the Refugee Documentation Centre (Recommendation 3). The planned roll-out of the entire system is due by the end of 2009, which includes the development of new modules for the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008.

Recommendation 8.

Adopt a single procedure for all protection and other issues including a streamlined removals process.

Actions to date: The introduction of a single protection procedure for the processing of applications to remain in the State whether as a refugee, a person eligible for subsidiary protection or on any other grounds is included in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008. This approach will replace the present multi-layered process which considers refugee matters first and then, as part of a whole new process, issues associated with leave to remain in the State.

A dedicated Single Procedure Transition Team has been established to ensure that the planned new Applications Processing Office within INIS which will replace the ORAC will be able to implement the protection aspects of the Bill after enactment. The Transition Team has made considerable progress in the preparations to date for the implementation of the Bill. Draft procedures for the processing of cases under the new Single Application Procedure and training materials are under development along with documentation for protection applicants such as questionnaires, standard letters, information notices, etc to support the implementation of the new procedure.

With regard to the other recommendations in the VFM Report relating to the broader immigration area, viz:

Recommendation 4.

Introduce a dedicated Service Development team in DJELR to progress critical organisational initiatives such as implementing key change initiatives, developing guidelines governing critical processes, designing and implementing management processes for performance and service improvement.

Recommendation 5.

Make Organisational adjustments within DJELR to strengthen capacity with regard to operations and policy.

Recommendation 6.

Develop a focused Customer Service Model within DJELR.

Recommendation 9.

Co-ordinate activities on immigration through the formation of a new institutional structure, INIS.

In respect of which other initiatives have already been taken within INIS, the Deputy might like to be aware that the Project Teams established under the INIS Change Management Programme have been tasked with:

the identification and implementation of the business processes and organisational structures arising under the Immigration Residence and Protection Bill 2008;

the establishment of INIS-wide shared services opportunities such as those in the areas of judicial review, customer service and family reunification arising under the 2008 Bill and the AISIP project;

the development and implementation of communications and training strategies and the identification, and

consideration of the opportunities available to optimise the integration of INIS IT systems and the IT requirements arising under the 2008 Bill and other legislative instruments.

It is within this framework that all of the Recommendations contained in the VFM report will continue to be progressed in order to support the future delivery of asylum and immigration services in an integrated fashion.

The cost of completing the Value for Money Review on Asylum and Immigration was €146,867 (VAT inclusive).