Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 552: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application for refugee status in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 22; when they can expect a response to the letter from their solicitor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22526/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned applied for asylum on 23rd October, 2006. In accordance with Section 9 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended), the person concerned was entitled to remain in the State until her application for asylum was decided. Her asylum application was refused following consideration of her case by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

Arising from the refusal of her asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 11th September, 2008, that the Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of her. She was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against her. In addition, she was notified of her entitlement to apply for Subsidiary Protection in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006.

The person concerned submitted an application for Subsidiary Protection. When consideration of this application has been completed, the person concerned will be notified in writing of the outcome.

In the event that the application for Subsidiary Protection is refused, the position in the State of the person concerned will then be decided by reference to the provisions of Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. All representations submitted will be considered before the file is passed to me for decision. Once a decision has been made, this decision and the consequences of the decision will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.

In his Question the Deputy refers to a letter submitted by the solicitor of the person concerned. It is being assumed that the letter in question is the one submitted by the relevant solicitor dated 5th April, 2011. I can assure the Deputy that the contents of that correspondence will be considered, along with all other papers on file, before a final decision is taken in this case.

I should remind the Deputy that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. The service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek this information through the more administratively expensive Parliamentary Questions process.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 554: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applicants for asylum whose applications have not been finalised after five years and ten years since their initial application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22532/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, applications for refugee status in the State are determined by an independent process comprising the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) which make recommendations to the Minister for Justice and Equality on whether such status should be granted.

There is currently one case awaiting investigation and decision by the ORAC for over five years owing to the inability of the applicant for medical reasons to participate in the processing of the asylum claim.

Of the 141 cases currently in the RAT which have been in the asylum process for over five years, 138 (98%) of these have been delayed owing to Judicial Review proceedings having been taken by the applicants themselves.

In the year to May 2011 the median processing time for an asylum application was 11 months.

There are no cases awaiting decision in ORAC or RAT in excess of ten years.