Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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190. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40134/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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If an application for international protection has been made in the State, the Deputy will be aware that, for confidentiality reasons, it is not the practice to comment on such applications.

As the Deputy is aware, applications for refugee status in the State were, prior to 31 December 2016, determined by an independent process comprising the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) which made recommendations to the Minister of Justice and Equality on whether such status should be granted.

Following the commencement of the International Protection Act 2015 on 31 December 2016, new arrangements for the investigation and determination of applications for international protection (refugee status and subsidiary protection) and cases involving permission to remain in the State have been introduced. Such applications will be processed, as part of a single application procedure, by the International Protection Office (IPO) which has replaced the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and Appeals will be processed by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT). 

The Chief International Protection Officer, following consultation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), published a statement on the Prioritisation of Applications for International Protection under the International Protection Act 2015 on 27 February 2017, which is available on the website of the International Protection Office (www.ipo.gov.ie).