Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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453. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of asylum seekers currently in receipt of direct provision in the State; her views regarding direct provision; the average processing time for asylum seekers in receipt of direct provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26702/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department is responsible for the accommodation of protection applicants in accordance with the Government policy of direct provision and dispersal. Direct provision provides for full board accommodation supports while a final decision is awaited by a person on their protection or any related leave to remain application. As at 8 June 2014 there were 4,353 persons availing of direct provision accommodation and supports in 34 accommodation centres in the State.

The operation of the Direct Provision system is kept under review and I acknowledge that the length of time that residents spend in Direct Provision is an issue to be addressed. I have no desire for applicants to remain in the protection system any longer than the minimum period it takes to process their case. The median processing time to a final decision by the Minister on an asylum application in 2013 was 36 weeks. Some cases can take significantly longer to complete due to, for example, delays arising from medical issues or because of judicial review proceedings. All asylum applications and appeals are processed in accordance with the Refugee Act 1996 and other relevant statutory provisions. High quality and fair decision-making in all cases continues to be a key priority at all stages of the asylum process.

Persons who are refused refugee status are notified of their entitlement to apply for subsidiary protection. This is separate to the asylum or refugee status determination process. This is invariably followed by the so-called leave to remain process. Each of these processes which determine whether an applicant can remain in the State are hugely complex and subject to oversight by the courts and have to be examined in accordance with a large body of Irish and international law. There are no shortcuts as the outcomes can lead to the most fundamental life-changing event for the applicants.

Measures have recently been taken with a view to delivering improvements in the processing of protection applications. The Deputy may be aware that the European Union (Subsidiary Protection) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 426 of 2013) were signed into law by my predecessor last November. Under the new Regulations, responsibility for the processing of applications for subsidiary protection was transferred from my Department to the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) with appeals to be dealt with by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT). Both of these bodies are independent in the exercise of their statutory functions and they have substantial experience in the area of asylum investigations and appeals, respectively.

Additional resources have been allocated to the establishment and operation of the new arrangements for the processing of these cases which include the engagement of a panel of legally qualified persons to process cases, personal interviews for each applicant at the first instance and the opportunity for an applicant to appeal a negative recommendation of the ORAC to the RAT. The ORAC, in consultation with the UNHCR, have recently published on its website details of how it will prioritise the process of scheduling persons for interview taking into account, inter-alia, dealing with applicants who are longest in the system first. The intention is to process as many of these cases to finality, to include consideration of any leave to remain aspects arising, in the shortest possible timeframe consistent with quality and fair assessment of all cases and of course, subject to the cooperation of applicants and no further legal impediments arising.

The Government remains committed to immigration and protection reform as provided for under the Programme for Government and under the Government Legislation Programme. Legislating to provide the means for a single procedure and related issues to deal with all protection claims is of priority in that it will provide the framework for removing the structural delays which are a feature of our existing protection system. In that respect work by my officials on legislative reform in this area continues, including in conjunction with the Offices of the Attorney General and of the Parliamentary Counsel, with a view to bringing forward legislation this year.