Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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528. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the method and criteria used in the appointment, not initial selection, of members to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in November 2013 and March 2014; if he will consider introducing a legislative requirement in the long-awaited IRP Bill that such appointments must be made through open competition along with a legislative requirement that members possess an expertise in refugee law; and if he will consider publishing statistics relating to each RAT member’s decisions in order to ensure a broad consistency, particularly in relation to credibility issues, reasonableness, use of country-of-origin information and the standard-burden of proof required. [19466/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy may be aware that section 2(a) of the Second Schedule to the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended) provides that members of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal shall be appointed by the Minister. In December 2012 I decided that arrangements should be made with the Public Appointments Service (PAS) to advertise for members of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal with a view to establishing a panel of potential appointees from which I could appoint members to the Tribunal as the need arises.

In cooperation with the PAS my Department through public advertisement and relevant websites invited expressions of interest in April 2013 from suitably qualified barristers and solicitors to serve as a Tribunal member. The essential qualification requirements were that candidates have at least 5 years experience as a practising barrister or solicitor and a satisfactory knowledge and experience of national, EU, and international asylum and human rights law and practice.

A Selection Committee was established to assess the applications and to identify potential appointees. Upon completion of the Committee's work I was presented with the names of persons in no particular order, deemed by the Selection Committee to be qualified for appointment to the Tribunal. To date, ten persons have been appointed as Tribunal members. The Deputy will be interested to know that I expect to appoint further Tribunal members in the near future.

The Deputy will appreciate that the selection process I have introduced ensures that members are appointed following an open selection process and that they possess the requisite expertise to adequately perform the functions of a Tribunal member. I am advised that following on from the appointment of new Tribunal members and the expansion of the Tribunal's remit to the area of subsidiary protection under the European Union (Subsidiary Protection) Regulations 2013, which I signed into law in November 2013, a comprehensive training programme has been undertaken by the Tribunal, to ensure that the new members are fully equipped to discharge their duties to the highest professional standards. I am informed that as part of this training programme, the Tribunal has been working closely with the UNHCR in developing a new decision template designed to enhance the robustness of the process and to assist Members in their difficult task.

As the Refugee Appeals Tribunal is a statutorily independent body, the issue of the publication of statistical information in relation to issues like those referred to by the Deputy including Tribunal decisions are a matter for the Tribunal. The management of the Tribunal is the responsibility of the Chairperson who under the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended) is required “to ensure that the business of the Tribunal is managed efficiently and that the business assigned to each division is disposed of as expeditiously as may be consistent with fairness and natural justice”.

The Deputy may be aware that in August, 2013 a new Chairperson of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal was appointed following a selection process run in conjunction with the Public Appointments Service. Since taking up his position, I understand that the Chairperson has begun a major review of Tribunal practices, procedures and guidelines.

In his recently published strategy statement for 2014 - 2017 the Chairperson commits the Tribunal “to consider and decide refugee, subsidiary protection and Dublin Regulation appeals to the highest professional standards.” He has also committed to an ambitious reform programme to achieve the Tribunal’s strategic goals and to undertaking a review of Tribunal policy on public access to Tribunal documents, including the Tribunal’s database of previous decisions.

With regard to the Deputy's question concerning future arrangements in this area under the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, which I intend to publish later in the year, I can say that it is my intention to make specific provision in the legislation for appointments to the new Tribunal to be made following on from a Public Appointments Service process.