Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 629: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the cost of providing State services to asylum seekers by his Department in 2008. [30762/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The costs to my Department in relation to delivering asylum services in 2008 are included in the table below under the following subheads of the Justice vote: D1 (Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service); D2 (Refugee Legal Service); and D4 (Accommodation Asylum Seekers).

Expenditure on Asylum and Immigration Services 2008

The above figures for 2008 are provisional and may be subject to change prior to publication of the 2008 Appropriation Accounts.

The Deputy should note that the costs incurred under subhead D1 include the total cost of running the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) which includes the delivery of services across Asylum, Immigration, Naturalisation and Visa areas. The cost of accommodating asylum applicants accounts for the bulk of the expenditure on asylum by my Department, as can be seen from the table above. In this regard, the direct provision system is an efficient means of accommodating asylum seekers. If this system was not in place the cost to the State of accommodating asylum seekers would be higher.

Various efficiency and cost reduction measures continue to be implemented across INIS with a view to reducing the costs associated with asylum applications. On the application processing side, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) keep processing times and scheduling arrangements under ongoing review with a view to limiting the amount of time applicants have to wait for a recommendation or decision, all of which impact on direct provision costs.

Other efficiency and cost reduction measures being pursued to reduce asylum costs include:

- implementation of strategies aimed at reducing asylum application numbers and tackling the various abuses of the asylum process;

- maximising the number of asylum cases transferred to other European States for processing under the Dublin II Regulation;

- an increased focus on the return of failed applicants to their countries of origin through deportations and voluntary return;

- implementation of the Government decision dated the 3 February, 2009 in relation to achieving an 8% reduction in spending on professional fees;

- engagement with contractors for asylum seeker accommodation to achieve an 8% reduction in Reception and Integration (RIA) expenditure. The RIA anticipates that these savings will be reflected in RIA's 2009 outturn;

- completion of a Government agreed Value for Money (VFM) Review of spending by RIA on asylum seeker accommodation. The result of this VFM review will be presented to the Oireachtas when it is completed;

- consolidating shared services related activities across INIS and redeploying resources to processing areas;

- strategies aimed at reducing the delays and costs associated with Judicial Review proceedings, such as greater use of in-house training, expertise and precedents, resulting in less use of counsel; ongoing review of practices and procedures and quality-proofing of decisions.

Finally, the Deputy will be aware that the enactment of the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 will be a key measure for achieving efficiencies in the asylum applications processing system itself; for establishing a more effective and streamlined removal process; and for tackling abuses which the asylum and immigration system have to contend with, including apparent abuses of the judicial review system. The Bill comprehensively reforms and simplifies the current asylum system through the introduction of a single procedure for the investigation of all grounds put forward by applicants for protection. It is envisaged that there will be significant reductions in processing times upon enactment of the Bill, which will significantly reduce the costs involved in the asylum process.