Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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831. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if there is any charge put on people for rent and board in IPAS locations where it has been proven that they have falsely applied for asylum; if there are any sanctions at all; if he is investigating organisations that are possibly assisting in false claims; and when he will introduce rent for people working who are living in asylum locations. [47878/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I can assure the Deputy that I am fully committed to ensuring that Ireland's International Protection system is robust and rules based.

The International Protection process decides if an applicant has a well-founded fear of persecution, or is at risk of serious harm in their country of origin. An assessment of the applicant's identity and the credibility of their application forms a key part of this consideration but does not result in determinations as to fraud.

Where a person does not have a well-founded fear, or does not have some other strong ground for remaining in the State, they are made the subject of a deportation order, unless they agree to leave voluntarily.

More generally in relation to organisations that may be engaging in fraudulent or illegal activity, I can assure the Deputy that my Department will refer any such matters to An Garda Síochána who will then investigate.

In relation to accommodation, under the current EU Regulations, applicants are entitled to reception conditions, which means basic supports and includes accommodation. While people don’t have to take up a place in IPAS Accommodation, many do, and there isn’t currently a basis to charge for this.

Meeting an important commitment in the 2025 Programme for Government, the Department is developing a proposal for a contribution model for people in international protection accommodation.

The Department has engaged with Government colleagues including Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection, and with stakeholders in the private sector, the NGO sector, and within the wider public sector as part of this work, and a proposal for Government to review is expected to be progressed in 2025.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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832. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time it took, on average, to process the first application of an asylum seeker who is not from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47879/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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835. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the longest amount of time that it took process the first application of an asylum seeker who is not from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47882/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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839. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time it took, on average, to process the first application of an asylum seeker who is from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47886/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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842. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality what is the longest time that it took process the first application of an asylum seeker who is from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47889/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 832, 835, 839 and 842 together.

It has not been possible to collate the information requested by the Deputy in the time available.

I will write to the Deputy directly once the information is to hand.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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833. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time it took, on average, to process the appeal of an asylum seeker who is not from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47880/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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840. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time it took, on average, to process the appeal of an asylum seeker who is from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47887/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 833 and 840 together.

I can assure the Deputy that I am fully committed to ensuring that Ireland’s International Protection system is robust and rules based, and that our borders are protected.

My Department, has a strong commitment to resourcing the Tribunal through its budget and staffing. This has been particularly evident in the past two years with the Tribunal budget having increased by 149% since 2023 and administrative staff having increased from 37 at the start of 2023 to 88 currently.

Recruitment is currently ongoing for both whole-time and part-time Tribunal Members to increase decision-making capacity with plans to hire further legal support staff also underway.

In keeping with this commitment, and the ongoing efforts, to increase the number of Tribunal Members and administrative staff, the number of appeals concluded by the Tribunal as of 5 September (3,790) is greater than the number of appeals completed in total in 2024 (3,098) and is also a 123% increase on the total number of cases concluded in 2023.

It is expected that the Tribunal’s decision-making capacity will increase further this year – with a target of over 5,500 appeals being concluded by year end, assuming that the anticipated new Members can be quickly onboarded, trained and become operationally effective.

The table below details median processing time for appeals in months from 2021 to 31 August 2025.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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834. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time it took, on average, to process the judicial review of an asylum seeker who is not from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47881/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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841. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time it took, on average, to process the judicial review of an asylum seeker who is from a safe country, for each of the past five years. [47888/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 834 and 841 together.

The management of the courts, operational matters and logistical functions are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and given the separation of powers in the Constitution. As such the scheduling of judicial reviews is a matter for the courts service.

To be helpful to the Deputy, I can confirm that currently there are 186 active judicial reviews relating to international protection applications and 361 active judicial reviews relating to international protection appeals.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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836. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people currently in asylum accommodation who are awaiting a decision on their first application, for each of the past five years. [47883/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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837. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people currently in asylum accommodation who are awaiting a decision on their appeal, for each of the past five years. [47884/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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838. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people currently in asylum accommodation who are awaiting a decision on their judicial review, for each of the past five years. [47885/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 836 to 838, inclusive, together.

The State is providing accommodation to almost 33,000 people who have applied for international protection, and over 9,000 of these are children. Accommodation is provided in over 320 centres nationwide.

It is a priority for my Department to have recommendations made on all international protection applications as soon as possible. This gives status to those who are entitled to international protection to rebuild their lives here, while also ensuring faster decision making in respect of those who do not meet the criteria.

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. At the end of August 2025 it has delivered 13,052 decisions, an increase of 58% over the same period last year.

I can assure the Deputy it is my intention to continue the investment in the end-to-end international protection process to speed up decision making.

There is a total of 33,947 International Protection applications currently pending. They are broken down as below:

• Pending at the IPO at COB Monday 18th August 2025 – 18,074
• Pending at the IPAT at COB Friday 15th August 2025 – 15,041
• Pending at PTR Review at COB Friday 18th August 2025 – 752
• Pending at MDU at COB Friday 18th August 2025 – 80

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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843. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of the asylum decision making process in its entirety for each of the past five years. [47890/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm that my Department takes all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, while ensuring the integrity of those processes is maintained at all times.

There has been significant investment across the end-to-end international protection process in the last number of years with additional staffing as well as increased financial and technical resources being made available to Immigration Service Delivery, International Protection Office, International Protection Appeals Tribunal and the Legal Aid Board. There has also been investment in ICT capital expenditure and process improvements.

This investment has already demonstrated results. 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. Further growth in decisions will be delivered in 2025.

The table below provides information on the actual spend (pay and non-pay) for the International Protection Office (IPO) and International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) from 2021 to 2024.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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844. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount being paid to retired Gardaí for each interview that they conduct with an asylum seeker. [47891/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I can assure the Deputy that I am fully committed to ensuring that Ireland’s International Protection system is robust and rules based, and that our borders are protected.

People may apply to be members of the International Protection Office (IPO) panel if they hold a relevant degree or have a minimum of two years’ experience in the area of international protection or immigration, as well as meeting other criteria. Panel members may not be serving civil or public servants (including Gardaí). It is open to anyone to apply if they meet the essential qualifications and requirements.

The complex nature of the International Protection Act 2015 requires in-depth training and the IPO works closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) in developing and delivering this training to its staff and panel members.

Following this period of extensive training, panel members undertake interviews, prepare reports and make draft recommendations which are then considered by IPO staff.

The table below sets out the schedule of fees payable to panel members.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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845. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people who entered the State without travel documents or on false travel documents, for each of the past five years. [47892/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Implementing effective border security arrangements is a priority for me as Minister.

The establishment of a person’s identity and nationality is an important feature of our immigration process. At ports of entry, Immigration officials conduct passport checks, and run operations as required, to ensure passengers arriving in the State are properly documented in accordance with Section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004.

Where a non-EEA national presents at a port of entry without documents or is identified as having false documents they can be refused entry to the State. Section 4(3) of the Immigration Act 2004 sets out the full range of grounds on which a person may be refused.

When a person is refused leave to land at Dublin airport, the Immigration Officer will arrange for the person to be referred to the GNIB for removal from the State. The priority is to return them on the next available return flight to the last point of embarkation.

If a person indicates or is identified as being in need of international protection they are admitted to the international protection process. It is the case that the majority of those who present without appropriate documentation and are refused leave to land then indicate that they wish to enter the international protection process.

The Border Management Unit (BMU) of my Department is responsible for frontline Immigration at Dublin Airport only, as such the below figures reflect the position at Dublin Airport. Other airports and other ports of entry are the responsibility of An Garda Síochána. The below table outlines the number of people who were refused entry at Dublin Airport due to presenting without documents or with false documents.

Table 1: Refused Leave to Land Dublin Airport 2021 to 31 August 2025.

* Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing

My Department and An Garda Síochána are working closely with airlines on a range of measures to ensure that passengers have the required documentation when boarding. This includes delivering in-person training to relevant airline ground-handling staff on immigration requirements and false travel documentation. BMU officials are available 24/7 to assist airlines with any immigration queries.

BMU and An Garda Síochána have an ongoing intelligence-led programme of operations at airplanes to detect passengers who destroyed documents inflight and to identify the point of embarkation of undocumented passengers. Last year in 2024, the BMU have carried out over 7,300 doorstep operations at Dublin Airport. So far this year over, 4,100 doorstep operations have been conducted by the BMU.

In addition to these ongoing operations, the Programme for Government commits to developing a border security strategy to deliver stronger border security, ensuring technology supports border screening and to reviewing the potential of extending pre-clearance mechanisms, such as electronic travel authorisation, for travel from designated third countries. This work is underway.

Finally, I can advise the Deputy the EU Migration 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.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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846. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people who have sought asylum that entered the State through the Northern Ireland, for each of the past five years. [47893/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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There are a number of circumstances where a person might apply at the International Protection Office (IPO) without first applying at a port of entry. They may enter at an airport with valid documentation for example but choose not to apply at that time. Or they may apply having been in the State for a period previously, for example on foot of a different permission to remain.

My Department’s assessment, based on the experience of staff and others working in the field, and based on the material gathered at interviews, is that in a significant proportion of cases, those applying for the first time in the IPO have entered over the land border. Applicants are asked to outline their travel route at interview but, owing to the varied and unverifiable nature of those accounts, that information is not collated in a structured way.

The below table provides a yearly breakdown of IP applications and the location the claim was made.

Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.

Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) share a long history and common interest in the effective operation of the Common Travel Area (CTA) and work together to prevent any abuses of the CTA.

There is also significant operational cooperation between the Gardaí, UK Border Force, UK policing services and the Police Service of Northern Ireland in relation to both immigration and criminal matters. This strong practical engagement and cooperation serves the mutual interests of both Ireland and the UK, and will continue.

An Garda Síochána has ‘Operation Sonnet’ which is a Garda operation targeting abuse of the CTA. It targets people attempting to abuse the CTA by illegally crossing the Irish border from Northern Ireland. During the overt element of Operation Sonnet, GNIB Officers operate checkpoints and vehicle stops on the M1 north of Dundalk in order to conduct immigration checks on passengers travelling by means of both public and private transport from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland. ‘Operation Gull’ is the UK equivalent.

The Programme for Government commits to ‘Continue to work with the UK Government to introduce further measures to tackle abuses within the Common Travel Area (CTA) and strengthen the external border of the Common Travel Area, including greater exchange of information’.