Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) was established in 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. Accordingly, and in keeping with statutorily independent body status, a separate budget is maintained within my Department's core accounting systems, from which the bulk of its costs are met.

In 2023 €6m was provided for IPAT, doubling funding would amount to €12m.

The International Protection Office (IPO) is an integral part of my Department and accordingly, many of its core running costs are embedded across the wider Department. As such a separate and distinct comprehensive budget figure is not readily available.

However, I can advise the Deputy that as part of Estimates 2023, I secured €16m in additional targeted funding to support the work undertaken by the IPO, doubling same would result in €32m in such funding.