Vol. 522 No. 2
412 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the appeal against the decision to refuse recognition of refugees under the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees of persons resident in Lucan, County Dublin (details supplied) will be heard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18469/00]
It is not the general practice to comment publicly on individual applications for refugee status having regard to the fact that applications by their nature are made in confidence with the expectation by the applicant that such confidence will be preserved.
However, the position in this instance is that the applicants were refused refugee status at first stage on the grounds that they did not qualify as refugees in accordance with the definition contained in the 1951 UN Convention relating to the status of refugees as amended by the 1967 protocol and as defined in section 2 of the Refugee Act, 1996 as amended. The applicants were informed of this decision on 26 August 1999.
The applicants appealed the decision refusing them refugee status on 7 September 1999. In accordance with the Procedures for Processing Asylum Claims in Ireland, as amended, notified to UNHCR and in operation since 10 December 1997, the appeal will be determined by an independent appeals authority. Both applicants have requested an oral appeal hearing and it is expected that the hearing will be scheduled for a date in early September.
