Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the average length of time it takes to provide decisions on applications for leave to remain; his plans to ensure that these applications are resolved in a speedy manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54487/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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In the interests of clarity, what is referred to as 'an application for leave to remain' refers to the submission of written representations to the Minister for Justice and Equality against the making of a Deportation Order, pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended). all such cases, before a final decision is made, consideration is given to the eleven separate headings set out in Section 3 (6) of the 1999 Act, the provisions of Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement and other relevant legal and constitutional provisions. Such decision making is also guided by, among other things, international law and Supreme and High Court Judgments. The ultimate decision will be to make a Deportation Order or to grant Leave to Remain in the State for a specified period and subject to stated conditions.

The consideration of cases under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) is a resource intensive process. It is not, however, possible to provide an average waiting time for the processing of such cases primarily because no two cases will be the same in terms of their nature or complexity. An indication of the complexities involved is outlined in my reply to Parliamentary Question Number 450 of 27th November which is appended below.

However, I am anxious that cases are processed as quickly as possible and to this end, additional staff members have been deployed to this area of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in recent years and substantial investment has been made in the development of technology required to support the processing of such cases. Additionally, the current multi-layered approach to the processing of cases of asylum origin means that persons who claim asylum, and have their claims refused, almost invariably proceed to lodge an application for Subsidiary Protection and if this is also refused, their ultimate position in the State must 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. This multi-layered approach is clearly not resource efficient, nor applicant friendly, and that is why I am providing for a single-procedure based approach in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, which I plan to progress in 2013. This proposed single-procedure will require applicants to advance, at the outset, all reasons, protection or otherwise, behind their request to stay in the State. As a result, the days of the multi-layered approach to dealing with such cases will cease.

Finally, I might add that I recently approved an initiative to put in place a panel with legal expertise who will assist the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in processing a cohort of repatriation cases thus speeding up the overall process and reducing the time spent by persons in the Direct Provision system. I would expect to see significant dividends from this initiative in the coming months.

Extract from PQ No. 540 of 27th November, 2012

The processing of cases at the repatriation stage is a complex one with obligations to adhere to both domestic and international law and to make decisions in accordance with the UN Convention on Human Rights. The process can be a lengthy one often punctuated with judicial reviews taken by the applicants at various stages including at deportation stage. Accordingly, not all cases fit neatly into particular categories. For example, in the case of families, one member of the family may have lodged a judicial review which in turn may mean that the remainder of the family may not be processed until its outcome is determined. In addition, some applicants may also be party to an application under EU Treaty Rights or through marriage to an Irish citizen or may have been granted leave to remain as a result of these applications. Therefore, it is not possible to provide figures in respect of the remainder of the case load without engaging in a very detailed exercise which could not be justified as it would divert resources from case processing.