Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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185. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications for international protection deemed inadmissible under section 21(2) of the International Protection Act 2015 in 2017. [45212/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The International Protection Act 2015 commenced on 31 December, 2016. As yet, no decisions to deem a person inadmissible under Section 21 have issued.

Section 21 (1) of the International Protection Act 2015 provides that before a person can make an application for international protection they must, as part of their (section 13) preliminary interview, satisfy an international protection officer that their application is not inadmissible. Under section 21(2) of the 2015 Act, an application will be inadmissible and the person will not be entitled to apply for international protection in the State if one or more of the following circumstances apply:

(i) another (EU) Member State has granted the person refugee status or subsidiary protection; or

(ii) a country, other than a Member State is, in accordance with section 21(15), a first country of asylum for the person.

A first country of asylum for a person is defined by section 21(15), as a country where that person

(a) (i) has been recognised in that country as a refugee and can still avail himself or herself of that protection, or

(a) (ii) otherwise enjoys sufficient protection in that country, including benefitting from the principle of non-refoulement and

(b) the person will be re-admitted to that country.

An International Protection Officer considers the admissibility or otherwise of an application for international protection and makes a recommendation to the Minister for Justice and Equality in this regard. Where an international protection officer makes a recommendation that an application is inadmissible he or she prepares a report in writing which includes the reasons for the recommendation and the Minister will, as soon as is practicable, notify the person concerned and his or her legal representative (if known) of the recommendation. The notification will include a statement of the reasons for the recommendation, a copy of the international protection officer's report and a statement informing the person of his or her entitlement to appeal to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal.  

Such a recommendation may be appealed within 10 working days from the date of the notification to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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186. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the median waiting time between an application for protection being made under section 15 of the International Protection Act 2015 and the personal interview under section 35 of the Act for non prioritised applications. [45213/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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At the present time it is not possible to calculate a median waiting time between the date of application for international protection under section 15 of the International protection Act 2015 and the date on which the personal interview takes place.  This is mainly due to the different case types on hands which were returned (by the former Refugee Appeals Tribunal and the former Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner) to the International Protection Office (IPO) under the transition provisions in the International Protection Act 2015.

Based on current staffing levels, the IPO estimates that cases in the transition categories (i.e. all cases in the process on commencement date) will be interviewed and cleared by October 2018.  It is estimated that the interviewing and processing of applications received since the commencement of the 2015 Act (except for relocation or prioritised cases which may be processed earlier) will be underway by November 2018. However, it is expected that further additional resources to those already provided to the IPO will be allocated to the office to shorten this period.

The prioritisation of international protection applications in the context of the scheduling of interviews is provided for in the 2015 Act subject to the need for fairness and efficiency. Once an Application for International Protection Questionnaire (IPO 2) and other supporting documentation is returned by applicants, the IPO is scheduling applicants 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".