Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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587. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the total amount of legal costs incurred by the State in addressing issues relating to asylum seekers in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33479/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Asylum related legal costs incurred by my Department arise from the provision of legal services by the Refugee Legal Service to asylum seekers and judicial review proceedings taken against the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) which are determined by the courts in favour of applicants or settled by the State.

Costs in these respects over the last number of years are set out below (figures for judicial review costs prior to 2011 are not readily available and would take an inordinate amount of time to compile).

Refugee Legal Service

2009 - €8.3m

2010 - €7.0m

2011 - €6.6m

2012 - €5.8m

2013 - €4.8m

Judicial Reviews Costs- ORAC and RAT

2011 - €3.5m

2012 - €1.8m

2013 - €1.7m

The Deputy may wish to note that asylum related legal costs are also incurred by the Chief State Solicitor's Office.