Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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1104. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the breakdown of the staffing levels in his Department and associated agencies dedicated to processing international protection applications in each of the years 2015 to 2022, in tabular form. [1199/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy may wish to note that on the commencement of the International Protection Act 2015 in December 2016, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner was abolished and responsibility for the investigation of applications for international protection transferred to the International Protection Office.

The International Protection Appeals Tribunal, formerly the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, was established in December 2016 in accordance with section 61 of the International Protection Act 2015.

As the Deputy may be aware, responsibility for the Irish Refugee Protection Programme transferred to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth with the transfer of functions, in October 2020.

A breakdown of officers involved in processing international protection applications within the Department of Justice from 2015 to 2022 is set out in the table below.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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1105. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the breakdown of the average wait times to process international protection applications in each of the years 2015 to 2022. [1200/23]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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1113. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applicants for international protection that were dealt with under the single application procedure in 2022. [1386/23]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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1114. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown of the number of applicants for international protection in each of the years 2012 to 2022, cross-tabulated with applicants' final decision status, in tabular form. [1395/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1105, 1113 and 1114 together.

The statistics sought by the Deputy are set out in the document attached to this response.

My Department's overall objective is to have decisions made on applications from people seeking international protection as quickly as possible. This ensures that those who are found to be in need of protection in Ireland can receive it quickly and begin rebuilding their lives here with a sense of safety and security.

During 2022, the number of people claiming international protection increased significantly, with 13,651 applications made with the International Protection Office (IPO). This is a 186% increase on the same period in 2019, the last year in which application numbers were not impacted by COVID-19. The number of applications for previous years 2012 to 2021 can be found in the tables attached.

It is not possible to provide the Deputy with information or data which cross tabulates applications with final decisions, as statistics are not maintained in this manner by my Department. However, in order to be helpful to the Deputy, I have included a table which sets out decisions made by the Department’s Ministerial Decisions Unit (based on applicant final decision only) for the same reference period.

Since the introduction of new efficiency measures in the IPO during 2022 the number of first instance recommendations and permission to remain decisions have increased by 44 % when compared with the same period pre-Covid in 2019. The total number of first instance recommendations made by the IPO under the single application procedure for 2022 was 4,899, compared with 3,410 for all of 2019.

Notwithstanding the very large increase in the number of applications during 2022, the median processing time for all international protection cases (which includes decisions on permission to remain) and processed to completion by the IPO in Quarter 4 of 2022 was 10 months, and 9 months for prioritised cases.

My Department is committed to reducing processing times for international protection applicants and is taking steps to ensure that applications are dealt with as quickly as possible.