Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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720. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons in each of the years 2017 to 2019 and to date in 2020 whose application for protection has been found to be inadmissible according to section 21 of the International Protection Act 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26938/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The International Protection Act 2015 was commenced on 31 December 2016.

The table below sets out the number of applications for international protection that have been found to be inadmissible, following an appeal, according to section 21 of the International Protection Act 2015 from 01/01/2017 – 25/09/2020.

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 benefiting 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 in this regard. Where an international protection officer makes a recommendation that an application is inadmissible, he or she prepares a written report, which includes the reasons for the recommendation and notifies 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 within 10 working days from the date of the notification.