Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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236. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if progress has been made on a matter previously queried (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29471/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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For reasons of maintaining full confidentiality, it is not my Department's practice to comment on whether an application for asylum or subsidiary protection has been made in the State. An applicant for such protection status, or their legal representative, should contact either the International Protection Office (IPO) or the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) directly, as appropriate.

An applicant for international protection is awarded international protection, whether refugee status or subsidiary protection status, upon a declaration of status being issued from my Department. This is done on foot of a grant recommendation from the IPO or a decision of the IPAT to set aside a refusal recommendation of the IPO.

My Department processes the recommendations received from the IPO and the decisions of the IPAT in chronological order based on the date the file is received in that Unit. Once the necessary due diligence has been carried out by the Ministerial Decisions Unit (MDU), a declaration of status will issue as soon as possible.

An applicant for such protection status, or their legal representative, should contact the MDU which operates an email service for responding to queries - mduinfo@justice.ie. The MDU will then be in a position to advise in relation to the status of any decision on an application for asylum or subsidiary protection.