Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 27 Nov 2002

Vol. 558 No. 2

Written Answers. - Asylum Applications.

Jack Wall

Question:

90 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of applications for asylum received during 2001 and to date in 2002; the number of applications processed in that period; the decisions made; the number of deportation orders made in that period; the number of such deportations carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23719/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell):

The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the following tabular statements.

The current statistics clearly indicate that significant progress continues to be made in relation to the processing of asylum applications and that the increase in processing capacity which has been put in place as part of the Government's asylum strategy is making a real impact on the backlog of cases on hands. This is evidenced by the fact that the number of backlog cases, that is, cases which are over six months old, on hand in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal as at 31 October 2002 is now down to approximately 1,400 – from a figure of approximately 6,500 at the end of September 2001 – the vast majority of which are in the final stages of processing. The ORAC is currently scheduling asylum applicants who applied in September 2002 for interview.

At the end of October 2002 there were 7,670 cases on hand in the ORAC and RAT, the vast majority of which were received in 2002.

Table 1

Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC)

First Instance Recommendations

Year	2001	2002(31/10/02)
Number of applications received	10,325	9,560
Number of applications processed	11,772	12,589
Recommendations to grant refugee status	458	787
Recommendations to refuse refugee status	6,501	6,551
Withdrawals processed and determinations for transfer to other countries under the Dublin Convention	4,813	5,251

Table 2

Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT)

Decisions at Appeal Stage

Year	2001	2002(31/10/02)
(1) Number of Appeals Received	4,192	4,543
(2) Number of Appeals Completed*	3,472*	4,696*

*Includes applications withdrawn.

Table 3

RAT decisions made*

Year	2001	2002(31/10/02)
Decisions to grant on appeal or to set aside/overturn ORAC recommendation	655	984
Appeals refused/decisions affirmed	2,161	3,181

Excluding withdrawals

Table 4

Deportation Orders

Year	2001	2002(15/11/02)
Number of Deportation Orders signed	2,025	2,277
Number of Deportation Orders effected	365	482