Vol. 513 No. 4
52 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the recent resignation of the independent appeals adjudicator (details supplied) on the basis that he was unable to stand over the operation of asylum procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2627/00]
The comments reported to have been made by the appeals authority in question do not accord with the facts. Applicants for asylum are given every opportunity to present their cases. They have access to free legal advice and assistance at all stages of the asylum determination process up to and including applications for temporary leave to remain.
The Refugee Legal Service, which commenced operations on 22 February 1999 from the Refugee Applications Centre, Lower Mount Street, is an independent, comprehensive legal service to assist asylum seekers in all aspects of the Irish asylum procedure. As an additional safeguard, the Minister established an independent monitoring committee to ensure a quality refugee legal service is provided. However, in many cases, applicants do not avail of this legal service until the appeals stage.
The Minister is aware that, in many appeal cases, information presented to the independent appeals authority has differed from that given at the initial interview. This additional information invariably has a bearing on the applicant's case for refugee status and, if it had been presented initially, the need for an appeal may not have arisen. Instances such as this help to give rise to a mistaken perception that the initial interview process is somehow unfair and flawed.
The Minister's aim, and that of the Government, is to provide a fair and effective system for dealing with asylum applications while continuing to meet our international obligations and maintaining our humanitarian approach to those in need of protection. Since taking up office, the Minister has put in place fair and effective procedures for processing asylum applications following consultations with the UNHCR and NGOs. These procedures are in line with our international obligations and in the spirit of the Refugee Act, 1996. The UNHCR has stated that, overall, the procedural arrangements promote a balanced administrative process pending the entry into force of the Refugee Act. All staff working in the asylum division, including my Department's reception and interviewing personnel, have completed appropriate training courses and have received on the job training and experience of interviews and assessments. The training programmes were agreed with the UNHCR and delivered by a combination of the Department's own experienced personnel, UNHCR training specialists and the UNHCR's full-time official here.
Additional Information
The Minister has also provided additional staff, free legal aid and put in place independent appeals mechanisms. That the appeals authority in question was free to make public his views on the asylum process, and his subsequent reappointment as an appeals authority, clearly indicates the independence of the appeals authorities.
The unprecedented number of asylum applications in the latter half of 1999 inevitably placed intense pressure on the asylum services in the State. However, the Minister has taken a number of steps to deal with this increasing number. These include the allocation of additional staff resources and increasing the number of appeals authorities. The Minister has also brought forward amendments to the Refugee Act, 1996, to make it workable and it is his intention to implement it in full very shortly. Applications have been invited for the post of Refugee Applications Commissioner and the competition for the position of chairperson of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal will commence in the coming weeks.
The Minister's ultimate aim and that of the Government is to establish a cohesive framework within which asylum seekers will have their applications processed speedily and fairly in accordance with best international practice and to integrate those persons granted refugee status fully into Irish society.
(Mayo): Is the Minister of State aware that Mr Finlay denounced the entire asylum policy as a complete travesty and stated that asylum seekers were being trammelled by the State, that their fundamental rights were not being observed, that he was alarmed at some of the decisions taken in cases appealed by him and that the legal standards which apply to asylum seekers were lower than those which apply to Irish people? Is the Minister of State not alarmed, embarrassed or ashamed that somebody with 14 year's experience as a barrister, appointed by the Minister of State and her Government as an independent adjudicator, who heard in the region of 400 cases in 18 months, and who should know the system inside out, was forced to resign because the system is a shambles?
The comments made by Mr. Finlay have been strongly and publicly rejected by other appeals authorities. In the face of an unprecedented threat by the entire Legal Aid Board of defamation proceedings on foot of the remarks made by Mr. Finlay, The Irish Times had to issue a public apology. Not all cases are appealed and of the cases appealed, 64% are refused by the appeals authority which suggests that the first instance decisions are reasonable. An analysis of the appeals heard by all appeals authorities indicated that the overall refusal rate was 64%. It is interesting to note that the refusal rate of the appeals authority in question was several percentage points above this, at 73%. When one examines the statistics, it should be recognised that an appeals procedure is needed and that the comments made by Mr. Finlay were strongly and publicly rejected by other appeals authorities.
(Mayo): Does the Minister of State accept that Mr. Finlay's remarks did not come out of the blue and that they were made several weeks before he resigned, obviously with the intention of bringing about some changes? Did the Minister of State, the Minister or anybody at Government level, in the light of his comments, make any contact with him to find out the problems that existed? Does the Minister of State accept that more than two thirds of the 511 immigrants granted refugee status last year were granted it on appeal, having been turned down at initial stage? Does she agree there is a fundamental flaw running through the system from the beginning to the end?
There would be no point in having an appeals system if no applicants were successful in appealing their cases. People can introduce new information at appeal stage and, as I stated earlier, if this information was made available at the outset appeals might not be necessary. Applicants are given every opportunity to present their cases and they are given free legal advice which they often take up at appeal stage. On average the 64% of cases appealed produced the same results as at the initial stages. Additional staff were employed to deal with the huge numbers involved. Since this Government came to office, 144 extra staff have been employed and another 120 staff will be taken on. We believe there is a reasonably good system in place, bearing in mind that the numbers keep changing and that every effort is being made to catch up on the backlog by next July. Other changes came into effect and greater numbers arrived. The comments made by Mr. Finlay were strongly and publicly rejected.
