I have been informed by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) that there are some 6,700 applicants for refugee status awaiting a final recommendation in that Office. This figure refers to all applications received up to the end of March 2002. Of this figure, some 2,530 applications or 38% are in respect of applicants who applied in 2002. The vast majority of the remainder have been scheduled for interview in the next few weeks or have completed the interview process and are awaiting decision.
The Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) has informed me that the estimated number of appeals on hand is 2,432. This figure refers to all appeals received up to 31 March 2002. Seventy-one per cent of these appeals, 1,739, are at an advanced stage of review and processing. The majority of the balance were received in the first three months of 2002.
At 31 March 2002, only some 2,350 applications were on hand for more than six months in the ORAC and in the region of 582 in the RAT, with the majority of these being in the final stages of processing. This represents considerable progress since the last occasion on which I replied to similar parliamentary questions and, in this regard, I would refer the Deputy to my replies to Questions Nos. 27, 31, 133 and 154 of 21 February 2002.