The purpose of the meeting is to consider the proposed approval for regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European asylum support office. A briefing note has been circulated to members. On behalf of the committee, I welcome the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and Mr. Michael Kelly and Mr. Patrick McHale. The Minister will make an opening statement, which will be followed by questions from members.
European Asylum Support Office: Motion.
The proposal is subject to the co-decision procedure. It was presented pursuant to Title IV of the EC Treaty and, therefore, does not automatically apply to Ireland or the UK under the terms of the relevant Amsterdam treaty protocol. We have to exercise our opt-in by notifying the President of the Council in writing. As the proposal was adopted by the European Commission in mid-February 2009, time is now short for the completion of the process. Under Article 29.4.6° of the Constitution, we have to secure the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas to opt in. On 22 April 2009, the Government authorised the exercise of the opt-in to the adoption and application of the proposal subject to the prior approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas.
The proposal for a European asylum support office was included in a range of proposed measures in the field of asylum announced by the European Commission in its communication of June 2008 entitled Policy Plan on Asylum: An Integrated Approach to Protection across the ED. The Commission's action plan set out a three-strand strategy comprising the following: better quality and enhanced harmonisation of standards of international protection, in particular, proposed amendments to the directives in the field of asylum dealing with reception conditions, procedures and qualification; practical co-operation in the establishment of a European support office with the remit of developing practical co-operation between the administrations in the member states in charge of examining asylum applications; and promoting responsibility and solidarity within the EU and between the Union and third countries, in particular, proposed amendments to the Dublin system, solidarity mechanisms within the EU and external solidarity including a proposed EU resettlement scheme.
Everything has moved quickly. This was first mooted in June 2008 and in October 2008, the European Council expressed broad support for this plan. The Council stated that it considered that the time had come to take new initiatives to complete the establishment of the common European asylum system, provided for in the Hague programme, and thus to offer a higher degree of protection as proposed by the Commission in its plan. The Council invited the Commission to present proposals for establishing in 2010, if possible, and by 2012 at the latest, a single asylum procedure comprising common guarantees and for adopting a uniform status for refugees and the beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
The European Council also agreed to establish in 2009 a support office with the task of facilitating the exchange of information, analysis and experience developing practical co-operation. The Council stated the office will not have the power to examine applications or to take decisions, but will use the shared knowledge of countries of origin to help to bring national practices, procedures and, consequently, decisions into line with one another.
In December 2008, the European Commission adopted proposals for the recasting of the Dublin convention, the related Eurodac regulation and the reception conditions directive. Subsequently, in February 2009, the Commission adopted the proposal for the support office. The Commission proposes that the office be given responsibility to help to improve the implementation of the common asylum system and to strengthen practical co-operation between member states. The proposed tasks of the office are supporting practical co-operation on asylum, supporting member states under particular pressure, and contributing to the implementation of the common asylum system.
Under the heading of practical co-operation, the office will organise and co-ordinate all activities enabling the exchange of information and the pooling of good practice. It will co-ordinate activities relating to information on the countries of origin of asylum seekers and will draft reports on countries of origin. The office will also develop and offer training in the field of asylum for the members of the asylum services. The training offered is intended to identify key principles and best practices with a view to greater convergence of practice in the member states.
Under the heading of support for member states under particular pressure, the office will co-ordinate and support action to assist those whose asylum systems are under pressure, particularly arising from their geographical or demographic situation, or situations characterised by sudden arrivals of large numbers of third country nationals.
Under the heading of contribution to the implementation of the common European asylum system, the office will organise and co-ordinate the exchange of information between member states and the Commission concerning the implementation of the Community legislation in asylum in the field. The office will also have the responsibility of drawing up an annual report on the situation of asylum in the Union. In consultation with the Commission, the office may also draft technical documents, including guidelines, on the implementation of common asylum systems.
The proposal also incorporates a regulatory framework for the deployment by the office of asylum support teams in the territory of a requesting member state. The intention is the office may organise assistance to a member state under particular pressure that requests the deployment of an asylum support team in its territory. The proposal states that the executive director of the office and the requesting member state shall agree on an operating plan setting out in detail the conditions for deployment. The travel, accommodation and subsistence costs of the team will be covered by the office.
The proposed structure of the office is set out in the draft regulation. It comprises: a management board with one member appointed by each member state, two members appointed by the Commission and a non-voting member appointed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees — the management board will be responsible for the appointment of an executive director, the adoption of the annual general report and the adoption of the annual work programme; an executive director appointed for a period of five years by the management board from a list of candidates proposed by the Commission — the executive director will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the office and will be accountable to the management board for his or her activities; an executive committee with eight members appointed from among the members of the management board — it is envisaged the executive committee shall be responsible for advising the executive director and issuing opinions to the management board; and a consultative forum established by the office for the purpose of co-operating closely with non-governmental organisations.
The financial provisions of the proposal state the budget of the office shall be balanced in terms of revenue and expenditure. Revenue shall comprise a contribution from the Community entered in the general budget of the European Union, any voluntary contributions from the member states and charges for publications and services provided by the office. The legislative financial statement attached to the proposal states that commitment appropriations will be €5.25 million for 2010 and will increase to €15 million in 2013. The estimate of staff requirements from 2011 ranges from a minimum of 60 to a maximum of 94.
The final chapter of the proposal sets out general provisions dealing with the legal status of the office, external evaluation of the office, a headquarters agreement between the office and the host member state, co-operation with third and associate countries, co-operation with the UNHCR and co-operation with other Community bodies.
The decision on the location of the agency's headquarters will be taken by the Heads of State and Government. In this regard it can be noted that the conclusions of the representatives of the member states, meeting at Head of State or Government level in Brussels in December 2003, give priority to newly acceding states in the distribution of the seats of Community offices or agencies to be set up in the future. Seats of future offices or agencies should be primarily located in the member states that acceded to the Union in or after 2004, while appropriate priority should be given to those that do not have an EU office or agency.
The principal purpose of the proposal for a support office is to strengthen practical co-operation among the member states. Accordingly, it is considered that the office will add value to the development of the common European asylum system. It is in the best interests of Ireland to opt into this proposal in the initial three-month period to take part in the negotiations within the framework and in the context of the co-decision procedure, with the European Parliament. I thank both Houses for referring the proposal to the committee.
On behalf of the Labour Party I indicate our support for the motion. I have some concerns that this particular office may not be of any great benefit to Ireland. Is the Minister of the view that it can benefit Ireland in any substantial way in terms of operating our asylum system and the subsidiary protection and humanitarian reasons for allowing people to remain in the country? I refer to people who indulge in having applications in a number of EU states. I presume that sort of activity will be a particular focus of this new office. The fact it will be located in one of the new accession countries will mean it will be a long way from Ireland. Will this have any particular effect in terms of how we might benefit from it?
In the context of the EU at large, are we one of the countries with a high proportion of asylum seekers? Are any trends visible regarding entering the EU? What countries are being focused upon? I am interested to know about the asylum support team. Does the Minister have a view on whether our situation with regard to asylum is such that we may need that team to intervene here at any stage? The concept of such an office makes good practical sense. My only reservations are that it may not make any substantial difference in achieving a more effective and efficient operation of our asylum system in Ireland.
The benefit is that we will gain from learning best practice and we will benefit from co-operation and practical information from other member states. Up to now there have been ad hoc bilateral arrangements and agreements between countries and it is better to have a central system for practical co-operation and information. We will also have access to a central portal for reliable and objective country of origin information which is very important in the determining of applications. This office will not have any decision-making functions with regard to particular applications as this still resides with the member state. The office will be in a position to give advice and suggestions about possible amendments to European directives.
On the question of the location of the office, the fact that it is far distant from Ireland will not cause any difficulty. It is accepted that some of the new member states should be given a twist at having EU offices.
With regard to Deputy O'Shea's question about figures, the European average is 0.4 of a person per thousand and Ireland currently stands at 0.9 so we are one of the higher incidence countries, despite the fact that the numbers are coming down. Cyprus has a figure of 8.7 asylum seekers, which is way ahead of Ireland. It has a huge influx because of the instability in that part of the world. Sweden has a figure of 3.9 which is particularly high and that country has been historically high. Malta has a figure of 3.4, which is a particularly big problem given its size, but other countries like Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have relatively small figures. Denmark is 0.4, the European average, Greece 2.2, Spain 0.2, France 0.5, Italy 0.2, Latvia 0.02, Luxembourg 0.9, the same as Ireland, and the UK 0.5.
We regard this office as being of great advantage to Ireland in that we can have access to more information about developments in other countries. If there had been a European support office when we were faced with our influx of asylum seekers in the earlier years, it would have been a big help. For instance, neither Malta nor Cyprus has the resources to take the large influx of people and they are struggling. I attend meetings and the Maltese and the Cypriots are raising these issues. I listen to them and say that we have had our problems but no one really helped us and we were on our own to a large extent. There is a recognition now that these small countries have to be helped.
The Fine Gael Party welcomes the establishment of this office. For the first time we will have a formal mechanism for sharing information between member states. The European Union is by far the first destination of choice for asylum applicants. About 50% of all asylum applications throughout the world are made in the European Union. To put this in context, the European Union receives about nine times the number of applications for asylum as the United States so it is a significant issue. Up to now there has not been a co-ordinated approach across the European Union and it is hoped this new office will at least provide the information. That in itself would be a significant step forward and at least all member states will be able to decide on asylum applications from particular countries based on common information being available to them all.
I refer to the press release issued once the office had been approved by the European Council. The example of Iraqi people being granted asylum in different member states showed that the number went from 0% in Greece to 76% in Sweden. Does the Minister envisage a situation where there would be far more uniformity among the percentages of asylum applications granted, in light of the fact that this country has relatively low levels of asylum applications being granted? The Minister has the figures but according to the European Union rate of granting asylum applications, Ireland would be at the lower end with fewer than 10% granted, or fewer than one in ten persons granted asylum in Ireland. There are various reasons for this statistic and the source countries in some cases would be different. Will this situation change as a result of the establishment of this office?
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has been advocating the establishment of this office to achieve standardised protocols across the EU for asylum applications, and this is to be welcomed from the point of view of those moving from one country to another seeking asylum. It is to be hoped there will be a significant falling off in the number of transfers under Dublin II. It is to be hoped this office will help streamline the process across the European Union.
The UNHCR has highlighted the issue of waiting times and we had a discussion on this issue in the House recently. It is taking an average of five years, based on the figures from last June, to process a leave-to-remain application in this country. At a time when the asylum system is costing us €85,000 a day, surely resources need to be put in place to expedite that process and the cases before the courts. The resources are finite. It is costing us more than €300 million a year to fund this system. While the numbers of people coming into the country have reduced significantly, we still have a large cohort going through the system. As the Minister has stated in the past, 90% of the applications will eventually be rejected. Surely it would make sense from the perspective of everybody, including taxpayers and potential refugees, for these applications to be dealt with in a prompt and expeditious manner.
The Minister stated the office will co-ordinate and support action to assist member states whose asylum systems are under pressure. He specifically mentioned Malta and Cyprus. What type of assistance does he envisage in that regard? For example, we know that Greece cannot take any more asylum applicants owing to the constraints of its asylum accommodation system. One accommodation centre in Italy, which recently made headlines, has 1,200 more occupants than it can cater for. Under this system, will some people applying for asylum in Greece, Italy or any other country that is under pressure be transferred for processing to Ireland, the UK or some other member state where we would need to carry the financial burden of processing those applications?
The Minister also stated that the office will have a role in supporting voluntary transfers within the Community of persons granted protection. Does he envisage the voluntary transfer of persons who are seeking protection? Could we end up undermining the Dublin II Convention? I also ask him to expand on his reference to the external dimension of the Common European Asylum System including resettlement.
While the European Union as a whole and the Ministers with responsibility for justice and home affairs in the various member states have been very much focused on dealing with the number of asylum applicants entering the European Union and trying to have a co-ordinated approach, and I hope this is the first in a long line of steps that need to be taken and should have been taken prior to this, there seems to be a lack of urgency at European Union level to deal with the problem in source countries. Based on the figures the Minister gave, if 90% of the applicants in this country are economic migrants, surely it would make far more sense for Ireland and the European Union to try to deal with that issue in the country of origin rather than needing to deal with the costly asylum processing system here and in other member states.
I hope the issue of unaccompanied minors and separated children in this country will be addressed by the new office. It is an issue that has been highlighted by the UNHCR and I have also highlighted it on a number of occasions. It has come to my attention in recent days that for the past 18 months the Department and the HSE have been given an offer of up to €1 million to deal with the issue and it has not progressed. The accommodation afforded to these children in this country does not meet the legal standards. If an offer has been made to the HSE and the Department to fund proper accommodation and services, why has it not been taken up? Even at this 11th hour I urge the Minister to ensure it happens to address the problem with these children disappearing from HSE accommodation. If resources are being made available to the State to deal with the issue, I cannot understand why we are turning our back on those because the offer of them will not remain on the table for very much longer.
We are still awaiting the Commission's approval for the proposed funding from the European refugee fund. It has raised some queries on what we have submitted to date. That funding is still available and we have in effect applied for such funding.
To what does that relate?
The refugee fund — the last issue to which the Deputy referred.
No. I am talking about a private philanthropic organisation that has offered up to €1 million to the HSE.
I am not aware of that.
I know they recently had a meeting with the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs.
I am not aware of that. It is a matter for the HSE.
The existing accommodation does not meet the legal standard for our own children. If an offer has been made it should be taken up.
We can check on that. On the issue of the recognition rate, generally speaking we have fluctuated just under the European average of approximately 14%. In the early years we were down at 7% and in more recent years in 2005, 2006 and 2007 we were at just over 10%. In 2002 we were at 14%. In 2008 we were at 9%. It depends greatly on the type of person who comes to our shores.
Does that——
Allow the Minister to reply and the Deputy can come back in a minute.
On the Iraqis, the Deputy referred to the different recognition rates. The purpose of this is to support uniformity. Ultimately there would be more consistency across European member states in how we respond to applicants, particularly given that we would all be working off, in effect, the same country of origin information. There are differences between member states on decisions on asylum applications. In countries like Slovakia, Greece and Slovenia 3% of decisions are positive. In countries like Austria, Belgium, Sweden and Italy up to 25% of decisions are positive. For example a Chechen has a 63% chance of being granted protection in Austria and a 0% chance of getting protection in Slovakia.
On the general issue of the time taken to process applications, much of the time people move out of the asylum process, which is what we are discussing, into other elements of them being allowed to remain in the State. That takes considerable time, often because of the multi-layered decision process which I hope will be improved on the enactment of the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill. As I have said many times before, the issue of judicial reviews has delayed the process. If we can get the Bill passed quickly with the forbearance of the Oireachtas, I believe we will see a fairly dramatic turnaround in these decisions. If an asylum support office had been in place between 2000 and 2002, it would have been a big help. The number of applications received was 11,000 in 2000, 10,000 in 2001 and 11,000 in 2002. That figure had decreased to 3,800 by 2008 and it will probably be even lower this year.
Does Deputy Naughten want to ask a supplementary question?
Perhaps the Minister will speak about issues such as transfer and resettlement.
If there is a voluntary agreement to take a transfer, it is obvious that it will be adhered to. The EU body will not make decisions on behalf of a member state. It is obvious the Dublin II procedure will apply. Decisions will have to be made in member states. They will not be farmed out to other member states. They will continue to be made by the member state in which the original application was made. The EU body might be of assistance if a member state is inundated with applications. It could help that state with training. Perhaps it could scope out the type of responses the applications require. The body will provide assistance. It will not make decisions on specific applications.
What would happen if there was a massive influx of potential applicants into Greece or Malta, for example? Does the Minister envisage that a person whose application is decided on in Malta, for example, might have to be accommodated in some other member state?
No, not unless it was voluntary.
When the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 is enacted, it will dramatically speed up the process availed of by new applicants. However, those who made applications in advance of that legislation will still have to be dealt with. We cannot ignore that issue. When we have addressed it, does the Minister envisage that we will send some of our staff to countries like Greece or Malta to help them to develop the skills and experience we have here?
I would not rule that out. If we have expertise that is no longer needed because our figures have gone down, we could be asked to help other countries. I imagine that we would be willing to assist in such circumstances, subject to working out the logistics.
It might be easier to get our officials to go to Greece than to Sweden or Norway.
It would be easier than getting them to decentralise to Roscommon.
I return to a matter about which I sought clarification earlier. The Minister mentioned that Ireland's recognition rate has fluctuated between 7% and 14% over recent years. Do the figures in question relate solely to initial asylum applications or do they also relate to leave to remain applications, which are subsequently made in the vast majority of cases?
The figures relate to applications made in the first instance and to appeals.
Do they include cases in which there are successful judicial reviews?
Yes. When a judicial review is successful, the case goes back into the system.
Can the Minister give the committee an indication of the number of people who have gained residency here as a result of subsidiary protection or leave to remain applications? He might not have that figure to hand.
I understand that the figure is quite small. I do not have the exact figure.
Would it be a question of 1% or 2%, on top of the 14%?
It is estimated that the number of cases is less than 20. It is therefore a very small proportion of the overall number of cases.
That is in the case of subsidiary protection. However, on leave to remain, those figures would have been higher.
They would be higher, yes.
Proportionately——
We do not have those figures off-hand. It would be higher.
I am trying to get an overall sense of——
We will try to get those figures for the Deputy.
Thank you.
Is it agreed that the committee recommends that there be no further debate on the motion in the Dáil or in the Seanad? Agreed. That concludes our consideration of the motion. A report on the committee's consideration of the motion will be laid before Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. The clerk to the committee has circulated a draft report. Is it agreed that the clerk will complete the report by including the starting and finishing times and the names of those who contributed to the debate? Agreed.
I thank the Minister and his officials for attending.
The Dáil was suspended for 15 minutes because Deputy Bannon was thrown out.
He has been trying to do that for a long time.