Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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204. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason that contractors have been engaged to work in ORAC dealing with refugee determination matters rather than using civil servants; if she will detail the way these contractors were selected and appointed; if she will provide the payments made in respect of these contractors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31866/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Responsibility for processing all Subsidiary Protection applications was transferred from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service of my Department to the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) under the European Union (Subsidiary Protection) Regulations 2013 (SI No. 426 of 2013) in November, 2013.

A panel of legally qualified persons was recruited to assist the ORAC in the processing of these cases. The recruitment of the panel was considered necessary to complement the numbers of civil servants available to process the cases on hand, to finalise these cases as quickly as possible, and with a view to moving applicants out of the direct provision system. It was considered that the recruitment of a legally qualified panel was the most effective solution to effectively deal with the cases on hand due to the complex nature of the work involved which includes the writing of a legally robust report in each case. While a member of the legal panel processes the case, the decision in respect of each applicant is made by a civil servant.

The panel was established following an open competition involving advertisements in national newspapers, short listing of candidates, the holding of interviews, and the establishing of a list of successful candidates. Comprehensive training has been provided to panel members by the Commissioner in conjunction with the UNHCR to enable them to carry out their duties.

Panel members receive a set fee per case completed with the basic payment for the completion of an interview and report in respect of a principal applicant within the new Subsidiary Protection process set at €330. A fee of €195 applies to the completion of an interview and report in respect of the spouse or partner of a principal applicant, and a further fee of €45 applies to each dependant child of the principal applicant. Commensurate fees have also been set for panel members representing the Commissioner before the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in respect of Subsidiary Protection appeals.

I am informed by the Commissioner that some 850 applicants have had interviews scheduled since December, 2013 and ORAC has made 350 determinations to date. Furthermore, 428 cases have been finalised as withdrawn either on the basis of a request for withdrawal from the applicant or the application has been deemed withdrawn on the basis that the applicant has not engaging with the process or attending for interview.