Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 196: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of leave to remain applications he has received annually since 2005 and to date in 2010; the timeframe of the backlog for applications to be processed; the number being processed annually; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24814/10]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 200: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of leave to remain applications still awaiting decision over two years, three years, four years; the number of applications waiting over five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24818/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 196 and 200 together.

In the interests of clarity, the Deputy might wish to note that there is no such thing as an 'application for leave to remain' and, as such, it is not possible to provide statistics on the numbers of such applications which were received in any particular year. However, what has become known as 'an application for leave to remain' is the submission of written representations to the Minister against the making of a Deportation Order.

Any person issued with a notification of intention to deport - a so called '15 Day Letter' - under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) is advised, inter alia, of their entitlement to submit written representations to the Minister setting out reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against them with any representations submitted being considered by the Minister, under a variety of headings, before a final decision is taken. The ultimate decision will be that a Deportation Order is made or, where, in the Minister's view, it would not be appropriate to make a Deportation Order, leave to remain in the State will be granted.

Against this background, it will be seen that there is no ready means of recording the amount of 'leave to remain applications' that are received each year given that in every instance, regardless of whether or not written representations are submitted, each individual case must be considered under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) before a final decision is taken.

Notifications of intention to deport under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) arise under two headings i.e. those of asylum origin and those of non-asylum origin with the latter category made up of persons who are illegal in the State following, for example, the expiry of a work, study or holiday visa or a work permit. Reliable statistics are available for persons served with such a notification following the formal refusal of their asylum applications and figures for these are represented hereunder (see Table 1). However, statistics for notifications issued to persons of non-asylum origin for the same periods are not available. As a rule of thumb, the ratio of notifications of asylum origin to those of non-asylum origin is generally about four to one. Based on this it is reasonable to infer that the figures provided below account for about 80% of all notifications issued during those years.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 197: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of asylum applications he received annually since 2005 to date in 2010; the timeframe for processing these applications; the number of asylum applications granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24815/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the number of asylum applications received and recommendations to grant refugee status in the period 2005 - 2010 (30/4) is set out in the tables below.

Table 1. Asylum Applications Received 2005 - 2010 (30/4)

Table 2. Recommendations to Grant Refugee Status at First Instance and Appeal Stage 2005 - 2010 (30/4)

In relation to processing times, in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) the average processing time for prioritised applications (applicants from South Africa and Croatia) is 3 - 4 weeks. The average processing time for non-prioritised applications in ORAC is 8 - 9 weeks. While in the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) the median processing time for accelerated appeals (appeals on papers only) is 9 weeks and is 43 weeks for substantive appeals.

Cases that take longer than this to complete in the ORAC and RAT arise for many reasons such as postponements, adjournments, availability of interpreters, judicial reviews, medical reasons etc.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 198: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of asylum applications still awaiting decision over two years, over three years, over four years; the number of applications waiting over five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24816/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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There were 16 asylum applications still awaiting a decision at first instance in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) as at 30 April 2010. The breakdown sought by the Deputy in relation to these cases is not available.

A breakdown of asylum appeals on hand over two years in the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) is set out in the table below.

Cases on hand over two years in the RAT as at 30 April 2010.

Delays in relation to the processing of asylum appeals arise for many reasons such as adjournments and postponement of appeal hearings, availability of interpreters, medical reasons, judicial reviews etc. With regard to the 448 appeals included in the table above Judicial Review proceedings taken against the ORAC, following the lodging of an appeal with the RAT, gave rise to the vast majority of these appeals being outstanding for the lengths of time indicated. Such Judicial Reviews effectively render an appeal unprocessable until such time as the proceedings have been completed which can take several months or indeed years.