Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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471. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown of the current staffing numbers of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal; the number of full-time and part-time staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9482/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The International Protection Appeals Tribunal was established on 31 December 2016 in accordance with Section 61 of the International Protection Act 2015. The Tribunal is a statutorily independent body and exercises a quasi-judicial function under the Act.

The Tribunal consists of a Chairperson, two Deputy Chairpersons, and such number of ordinary members appointed on either a whole-time or part-time capacity as the Minister for Justice, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform, considers necessary for the expeditious dispatch of the business of the Tribunal. Administrative staff are assigned to the Tribunal from the Department of Justice.

The current breakdown of staffing is outlined in the below table;

As outlined in the above table there are 43 staff members (41.5 FTE) in IPAT. There is currently one whole-time Tribunal Member vacancy and three Clerical Officer vacancies which are in the process of being filled.

The work of the administrative staff does not involve hearing or making decisions on cases. This work is carried out by the Tribunal members – the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson’s, and the whole and part time Tribunal members. All Tribunal members are either barristers or solicitors with a minimum of five years’ professional experience, and are appointed by the Minister for Justice following selection by the Public Appointments Service.

In 2022, IPAT had capacity to handle 2,300 appeals, with a budget and staffing levels to match. In 2022, IPAT issued 1,305 decisions, and disposed of 1,571 appeals in total. As such, IPAT currently has capacity both in Tribunal member numbers and administrative staffing numbers to deal with the cases currently on hand.