Written answers
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Department of Justice and Equality
International Protection
Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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727. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of decisions issued by the International Protection Office in the past 12 months under headings (details supplied) in tabular form. [37253/22]
Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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728. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of affirmed decisions by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal; and the number of recommendations that have been set aside in the past 12 months. [37254/22]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 727 and 728 together.
For those who are in the international protection process, our objective is to have decisions made on their applications, including the permission to remain consideration, as soon as possible. This ensures that those who are found to be in need of our protection can receive it quickly and begin rebuilding their lives here with a sense of safety and security.
The table below sets out the figures requested by the Deputy (for the 12 month period to the end of June 2022).
| First instance recommendations to grant refugee status | 1,437 |
|---|---|
| First instance recommendations to grant subsidiary protection | 74 |
| First instance recommendations to grant Permission to Remain | 1,879 |
| First instance refusals of refugee status, subsidiary protection and permission to remain | 536 |
| First instance recommendation in respect of withdrawals | 200 |
The International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) is a statutorily independent body and exercises a quasi-judicial function under the International Protection Act 2015.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Tribunal has provided the data sought by the Deputy in the table below, which covers the period 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.
| Appeal Type | Granted (Set Aside) | Refused (Affirmed) | Grant Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accelerated IP Appeal | 71 | 247 | 318 |
| Dublin III | 8 | 18 | 26 |
| Inadmissible Appeal | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| SP Appeal - Legacy | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Subsequent Appeal | 8 | 18 | 26 |
| Substantive IP Appeal | 384 | 513 | 897 |
| Substantive IP Appeal Asylum only | 26 | 6 | 32 |
| Substantive IP Appeal SP only | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 512 | 809 | 1321 |
I can assure the Deputy that my Department continues to work to improve the international protection process and to reduce processing times, in line with the recommendations made by the Expert Advisory Group, led by Dr. Catherine Day, and the commitments in the Government's White Paper. However, the substantially higher number of applications currently being received will present a significant challenge in achieving this.
An end-to-end review of relevant international protection processes by a multi-disciplinary team from my Department has been completed and published. New measures and procedures will continue to be put in place to improve efficiencies across all aspects of the protection process.
Since the introduction of new efficiency measures, in the first six months of this year we have been able to increase the number of first instance recommendations and permission to remain decisions being made by the IPO by 56% when compared with the same period pre-Covid in 2019.
The total number of first instance recommendations made by the IPO for the first six months of 2022 was 2,656, compared with 3,408 for all of 2019.
My Department will, by October 2022 at the latest, commence a review of progress made in reducing and improving processing times.
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