Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 367: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applicants on the asylum waiting lists when he took office; and the progress being made to reduce the numbers. [32462/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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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 me on whether such status should be granted.

For reporting purposes, end of month figures are used to compile information on cases on hand. I can inform the Deputy that on 28 February 2011 there were 479 cases on hand in the ORAC and 787 in the RAT. As of 30 September 2011, the number of cases on hand in the ORAC and RAT were 283 and 609 respectively.