Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Feb 2001

Vol. 530 No. 1

Written Answers. - Asylum Applications.

Ivor Callely

Question:

133 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will give a breakdown of the applications for permission to remain made by people who have made applications for asylum; the percentage breakdown of such applications on the grounds of being a parent of an Irish born child, spouse of an Irish national and spouse of an EEA national residing here; if there are concerns over certain abuses of such applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1460/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

In the period, 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2000, permission to remain was granted to 2,473 current or former asylum applicants in the categories referred to by the Deputy. A total of 86% of the persons in question received permission to remain as the parents of Irish born children, 8% on the basis of marriage to an Irish national and 6% on the basis of marriage to an EEA national.

Of the 977 cases on hand in respect of the categories in question, 73% relate to parents of Irish born children, 14% to spouses of Irish nationals and 13% to spouses of EEA nationals. The Deputy should note, however, that many of the cases involving parents of Irish born children relate to two applicants. Applications for permission to remain in these categories, as in all others, are examined individually and according to particular criteria with a view to ensuring the applicant in each case is in fact entitled to the permission to remain which has been sought.

Ivor Callely

Question:

134 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made on the use of accelerated procedures to deal speedily with asylum applications in his Department as suggested by the working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1461/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I assume the Deputy is referring to the operation of manifestly unfounded procedures. In 1983 the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concluded (UNHCR EXCOM 30 (1983)) that national procedures for dealing with asylum applications "may usefully include special provisions for dealing in an expeditious manner with applications which are considered to be so obviously without foundation as not to merit full examination at every level of the procedure". Manifestly unfounded applications have been defined as applications;

not related to the criteria for the granting of refugee status laid down in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, or clearly fraudulent.

The position regarding the use of these procedures is that an internal working group in the refugee applications centre examined the use of accelerated procedures to deal speedily with cases which are manifestly well-founded and manifestly unfounded. Arising from the deliberations of the group, workshops were held with the relevant staff in the case processing area of the refugee applications centre. As a result manifestly well-founded cases are identified where possible at an early stage to ensure that a person who is likely to succeed in the asylum process gets the benefit of refugee status as soon as possible without being unnecessarily delayed. Manifestly unfounded procedures will help eliminate, at an early stage, applications which appear to have little or no relevance to the definition of a refugee in section 2 of the Refugee Act, 1996, (as amended).

Since early 2000, the Irish authorities have sought to use these procedures to the fullest extent, initially in accordance with the "Procedures for Processing Asylum Claims" which were agreed with the UNHCR, and subsequently in accordance with the Refugee Act, 1996, (as amended). The statistics below outline the progress in regard to use of manifestly unfounded procedures for the period January to December 2000.

Month	Total Decisions made	Manifestly unfounded decisions
January	327	46
February	532	75
March	389	90
April	423	10
May	563	257
June	582	260
July	546	286
August	588	241
September	444	271
October	739	267
November	1,265	237
December	95	29

The figures for November are combined to reflect statistics from the old "Procedures" and recommendations made to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform under the Refugee Act which was commenced on 20 November 2000. In the case of December, the figures reflect recommendations made to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. These recommendations are at present being processed.

The information below sets out details of Appeals Completed in 2000.

Month 2000	Total Appeals Completed	Manifestly Unfounded Appeals Completed
January	178	23
February	129	13
March	170	24
April	148	20
May	125	14
June	227	86
July	305	173
August	254	106
September	340	239
October	733	383
November	898	378
December	34	– *

Note: All manifestly unfounded appeals considered by Appeal Authorities were completed by 20th November.

*The position for December reflects the setting up of new procedures for processing appeals under the Refugee Act, 1996, which involved the allocation of cases to members of the tribunal for consideration/examination under the new legislative based procedures.