Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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118. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons waiting for a first instance decision on a protection application from the International Protection Office; the average amount of time it is taking to get a first instance decision on a protection application from the office; the average amount of time to get an oral interview after lodging a protection application with the office; the number of refugee, subsidiary protection and permission to remain applications granted since 1 January 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42043/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the International Protection Act 2015 was commenced on 31 December 2016 (commencement date). The 2015 Act introduced a single procedure which enables all grounds for seeking international protection (refugee status and subsidiary protection) or permission to remain in the State for other reasons to be examined and determined in one process.

At the end of September 2017, there were some 4,950 applications awaiting processing in the International Protection Office (IPO). The vast majority of these applications were made before the commencement of the 2015 Act but were not finalised by the former Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and the former Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) by that date. These applications must be processed by the IPO under the transitional provisions of the 2015 Act. Various categories of cases reverted to the IPO including asylum appeals transferred from the old Refugee Appeals Tribunal and asylum and subsidiary protection cases transferred from the old ORAC. This added significantly to the IPO’s caseload.

In terms of processing, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that considerable progress has been made by the IPO in getting the new single procedure process up and running. This follows IPO staff concentrating in the initial months of the year on the necessary preparatory work including issuing correspondence to all transitional applicants with details of the new processing arrangements, the handling of some 2,600 returned Application for International Protection Questionnaires including the translation of questionnaires (some 50% of which require translation) and the scheduling of interviews etc. Furthermore, extensive training on the new procedures and processing arrangements has been delivered to staff in the IPO and supporting panel members (persons with legal qualifications who support International Protection Officers in their function.

To date, the IPO has also conducted almost 1,900 single procedure interviews (including in respect of EU Relocation cases) and 69 interviews under the 2013 Subsidiary Protection Regulations. More than 160 additional interviews have been scheduled in the IPO for the coming weeks with more interviews being scheduled on a daily basis.

A total of 463 grants for protection have issued this year to 19^thSeptember, comprising 325 granted refugee status under the Single Procedure and a further 69 legacy applicants were granted refugee status under the Refugee Act, 1996. In addition, 54 grants of Subsidiary Protection under the legacy procedures were made.  A further 15 humanitarian permissions to remain were granted by the International Protection Office.

At the present time, it is not possible to calculate an accurate current median processing time for international protection applications due to the different case types on hands which were returned to the IPO under the transition provisions in the 2015 Act. Considerable additional resources, have and are, being allocated to the IPO to assist it in undertaking its statutory functions with a view to processing the volume of cases on hands as soon as possible.

In relation to the scheduling of interviews and the processing of cases in the IPO, I am also advised that the prioritisation of international protection applications is provided for in the International Protection Act 2015 subject to the need for fairness and efficiency. When the Application for International Protection Questionnaire (IPO 2) and other supporting documentation is returned by applicants, the IPO is scheduling applications for interview primarily on the basis of date of application (oldest cases first). However, certain categories of applicant are also being prioritised such as those from refugee generating countries (such as Syria) and unaccompanied minors. The IPO’s approach to prioritisation has been agreed with the UNHCR and is available on its website:www.ipo.gov.ie.