Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will outline the plans for improving processing times for international protection applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35633/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, there has been a significant increase in investment into the international protection system which, combined with digitisation and process reengineering, has facilitated a major increase in processing capacity.

In 2024 the International Protection Office (IPO) delivered over 14,000 first decisions compared to over 8,500 in 2023, while the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) closed around 3,100 appeals in 2024 compared to over 1,700 in 2023.

I intend to further invest in the immigration system to support 25,000 first-instance decisions made in the IPO this year. The IPAT also aims to increase the number of appeals completed over the course of 2025 with recruitment of Tribunal Members to increase its decision-making capacity currently taking place.

Additionally, accelerated processing was introduced in November 2022, and it now applies to those from designated safe countries of origin, applicants who have received protection elsewhere in Europe and those from a country with a particularly high number of applications.

Ireland has opted in to the EU Asylum and Migration Pact which is due to enter operation in June 2026. The Pact will provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the EU.

The Pact introduces mandatory processing times for International Protection applications. Ireland along with other Member States will be required to process applications in 3 months for an accelerated decision. This will apply to, amongst others, people who have misled authorities such as by destroying identity documents.