Vol. 478 No. 5
104 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice her views on whether the recently reported massive influx of refugees is reaching crisis point; and when the full provisions of the Refugee Act, 1996 including the recruitment of personnel and adequate resources, will be put in place. [11639/97]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 81 of 24 April 1997 in which I outlined in detail the current situation regarding the increase in the number of applicants for asylum and the implementation of the Refugee Act, 1996.
There has been a considerable increase over the past few months in the number of persons applying for asylum. This increase has placed pressures on the system which are being dealt with.
Ireland, in common with other states, has international obligations in the area of asylum which must be fulfilled and any actions which are taken to deal with asylum applications must take into account such obligations.
