John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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116. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons that applied for asylum in each of the years 2000 to 2016 and to date in 2017; the number of persons that were rejected; the number of persons that left voluntarily; the number of persons awaiting a decision, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40808/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the figures requested by the Deputy are set out in the following table:

*End August 2017

The figure for 2017 for Refusals/Rejected applications is expected to increase substantially for the remainder of the year as the single procedure under the International Protection Act takes effect. On 31 August 2017, there were 4,694 applications on hand with the International Protection Office.  The International Protection Appeals Tribunal had 300 Appeals pending on this date.

Please note that a dedicated Unit was established in INIS on 20 November 2000 following the commencement of the Refugee Act 1996 but did not issue any decisions until the following year.

Section 2 of the International Protection Act 2015 defines a refugee as “a person...who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside his or her country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or a stateless person, who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons as mentioned above, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it”

The Irish system for assessing applications for international protection is independent and complies fully with international standards, characterised by a high level of transparency and oversight with each application being dealt with in full compliance with due process.  Persons that seek International Protection in Ireland lodge their application with the International Protection Office in the first instance.  If they are not satisfied with the decision issued by that office they may appeal to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal which is also an independent body.  Refusals to grant asylum are accompanied by written reports that set out the reasons why the application has been refused.  Applicants also have access to free legal aid and to the Irish Courts where they may challenge the decision made in their case by way of Judicial Review in the High Court, Supreme Court and ultimately the Court of Justice of the European Union.