Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2005

Tuesday, 14 June 2005

Questions (625, 626, 627, 628)

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

652 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the training which is given to each Refugee Appeals Tribunal member; the duration of such training; and the frequency with which such training is renewed. [19792/05]

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

653 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the amount which has been paid to members of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in 2002, 2003 and 2004; the amount which has been paid to each member of the tribunal respectively in 2002, 2003 and 2004; and the number of cases which have been heard per member of the tribunal. [19793/05]

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

654 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of members appointed to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal; the date on which they were appointed; if each member of the tribunal works on a full-time or part-time basis and holds a temporary or permanent contact; and the number of hours worked or cases heard per member in 2002, 2003, 2004 and to date in 2005. [19794/05]

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

655 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the person who appoints the members of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal; the criteria used for the selection of new members of the tribunal or for renewal or contracts of existing members; if the Civil Service Commission has any input into the selection of the members; the number of years for which it is necessary to have been practising as a barrister or solicitor prior to appointment to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal; the initial date of appointment and the date of renewal of appointment of each member of the tribunal; when and the location at which each tribunal member was interviewed. [19795/05]

Written answers

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 652 to 655, inclusive, together.

The Refugee Appeals Tribunal is an independent body established under the Refugee Act 1996. The tribunal comprises a chairperson and at present 35 ordinary members appointed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The criteria used in making appointments to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal are set out in the Second Schedule to the 1996 Act. Ordinary members of the tribunal, who are part-time, hold office for a term of three years and, as in the case of the chairperson, are required to have had not less than five years' experience as a practising barrister or practising solicitor before appointment. The chairperson is appointed for a term of office of five years following open competition held by the Public Appointments Service.

The dates of appointment and, where appropriate, re-appointment of current members of the tribunal are set out in the following table:

Name	Date of Appointment	Date of Re-appointment
1. Eamonn Cahill, SC	20/11/00	20/11/03
2. Aidan Eames, Solicitor	20/11/00	20/11/03
3. Eamonn Barnes, BL	20/11/00	20/11/03
4. Jim Nicholson, BL	20/11/00	20/11/03
5. Donal Egan, BL	20/11/00	20/11/03
6. Patrick Hurley, Solicitor	20/11/00	20/11/03
7. Sunniva McDonagh, BL	20/11/00	20/11/03
8. Des Zaidan, BL	20/11/00	20/11/03
9. Bernadette Cronin, SC	20/11/00	20/11/03
10. Michael O’Kennedy, SC	05/06/02	20/11/03
11. Doreen Shivnen, BL	23/01/01	23/01/04
12. Olive Brennan, BL	30/04/03	23/01/04
13. Michelle O’Gorman, BL	17/07/01	17/07/04
14. Rory MacCabe, SC	31/07/01	31/07/04
15. David Andrews, SC	05/06/02	03/08/04
16. Ben Garvey, BL	26/09/01	26/09/04
17. Declan McHugh, BL	10/10/01	10/10/04
18. Joseph Barnes, BL	23/05/02	17/01/05
19. Paul A. McGarry, BL	21/01/02	21/01/05
20. Bruce St. John Blake, Solicitor	22/02/02	22/02/05
21. Denis Linehan, Solicitor	04/03/02	04/03/05
22. Anne Tait, Solicitor	12/03/02	12/03/05
23. John Hayes, Solicitor	12/03/02	12/03/05
24. Bernard McCabe, BL	12/01/04
25. Mary E. Laverty, SC	12/01/04
26. David McHugh, BL	12/01/04
27. Ricardo Dourado, BL	12/01/04
28. Elizabeth O’Brien, BL	12/01/04
29. Susan Nolan, Solicitor	08/03/04
30. Samantha Cruess Callaghan, BL	10/03/04
31. Margaret Levey, BL	10/06/04
32. Judy Blake, BL	20/12/04
33. Sean Deegan, BL	20/12/04
34. Noel Whelan, BL	20/12/04
35. David Goldberg, SC	20/01/05

Paragraph 12 of the Second Schedule to the Refugee Act 1996, as amended, requires, inter alia, that the chairperson of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal make provision for training programmes for members. I am advised by the chairperson that on appointment, each member is required to undergo basic intensive training as follows: introduction to refugee law provided by UNHCR; introduction to research of country of origin information-legal issues, provided by experienced tribunal staff and staff from the refugee documentation centre operated by the Legal Aid Board; introduction to domestic case law relevant to refugee status determination; mentoring programme — all newly appointed members are required to undergo three months mentoring under the guidance of selected experienced mentors. The programme consists of one-to-one practical assistance and advice by a senior member on all aspects of the decision-making process, including conduct of hearings. The mentoring programme includes feedback on progress to the chairperson.

I am also advised that as a priority, the training needs-refresher training needs of each individual member are reviewed on an ongoing basis and all courses when required are delivered in accordance with the members' training needs analysis. In this regard, I am advised that during 2004 the tribunal engaged a comprehensive training initiative delivered by the UNHCR which comprised confidential intensive one-on-one consultations with members. Sessions were tailored to individual members' concerns. This project was conducted in two rounds with members participating in both rounds.

I am also informed that the tribunal also operates a training and education programme comprising of in-house organised courses, which include attendance by guest expert speakers on topics such as dealing with unaccompanied minors, specific countries of origin and assessing claims concerning torture and trauma.

Arrangements are in place for members to avail of courses arranged by organisations which specialise in asylum-human rights issues and also to attend conferences and seminars which take place both in Ireland and abroad. A new development in 2005 was the establishment of the education and training committee which consists of senior members of the tribunal and senior members of the administrative staff. The purpose of the committee is to identify training needs for tribunal members; to design an appropriate training programme; and to evaluate ongoing progress in relation to training. Some further details of the training seminars attended by the members of the tribunal are included in the annual report of the tribunal for 2004 which was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 20 April 2005.

The total amount paid to members of the tribunal for 2002, 2003 and 2004 is set out in the following table:

Year	2002	2003	2004
Amount Paid	1,694,040.44	1,864,376.81	2,339,323.56

The amount paid to each member of the tribunal in 2002, 2003 and 2004 is set out in the following table:

Name	2002	2003	2004
1. Eamonn Cahill, SC	138,951.95	109,653.81	111,416.23
2. Aidan Eames, Solicitor	113,790.44	101,587.98	62,563.07
3. Eamonn Barnes, BL	62,862.19	41,708.73	62,472.95
4. Jim Nicholson, BL	208,039.41	135,415.36	232,762.91
5. Donal Egan, BL	88,588.34	116,315.44	94,588.18
6. Patrick Hurley, Solicitor	129,783.23	90,941.02	116,573.67
7. Sunniva McDonagh, BL	60,794.28	66,159.79	48,027.34
8. Des Zaidan, BL	68,270.77	75,229.36	134,571.91
9. Bernadette Cronin, SC	156,103.38	129,799.58	128,348.96
10. Michael O’Kennedy, SC	14,335.84	87,196.92	81,333.21
11. Doreen Shivnen, BL	36,198.83	65,601.99	31,764.93
12. Olive Brennan, BL	0.00	19,097.45	123,491.03
13. Michelle O’Gorman, BL	70,907.88	76,735.48	86,734.64
14. Rory MacCabe, SC	75,845.99	62,849.85	66,473.79
15. David Andrews, SC	18,582.94	55,638.86	93,865.54
16. Ben Garvey, BL	95,831.50	154,066.31	194,085.88
17. Declan McHugh, BL	35,854.76	13,771.02	45,669.66
18. Joseph Barnes, BL	2,025.29	10,049.07	28,957.16
19. Paul A. McGarry, BL	46,659.43	82,419.55	57,781.16
20. Bruce St. John Blake, Solicitor	18,045.98	56,366.67	40,357.96
21. Denis Linehan, Solicitor	20,887.44	57,422.99	131,848.88
22. Anne Tait, Solicitor	15,611.24	45,345.36	22,391.66
23. John Hayes, Solicitor	49,837.87	82,385.41	54,719.25
24. Bernard McCabe, BL	0.00	0.00	35,397.98
25. Mary E. Laverty, SC	0.00	0.00	35,567.97
26. David McHugh, BL	0.00	0.00	58,820.53
27. Ricardo Dourado, BL	0.00	0.00	20,698.90
28. Elizabeth O’Brien, BL	0.00	0.00	54,094.90
29. Susan Nolan, Solicitor	0.00	0.00	17,130.24
30. Samantha Cruess Callaghan, BL	0.00	0.00	17,600.68
31. Margaret Levey, BL	0.00	0.00	11,792.07
32. Con Murphy, Solicitor*	15,858.00	10,442.91	37,039.32
33. Judge Gillian Hussey*	9,837.35	13,640.00	381.00
34. Bernard Brennan, Solicitor*	6,805.04	0.00	0.00
35. Conor Bowman, BL*	18,257.39	25,167.95	0.00
36. Dympna Cusack, BL*	6,856.63	0.00	0.00
37. Joseph Ward, BL*	26,495.48	18,360.48	0.00
38. Monica Lawlor,BL*	24,336.39	0.00	0.00
39. Judge Sean Delap — deceased*	0.00	6,643.27**	0.00
40. Veronica Gates, BL*	10,355.08	3,885.38	0.00
41. John Ryan, BL†	47,430.10	50,478.82	0.00

* Former members of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

† Appointed as interim chairperson 3 December 2003.

** Arrears paid to Mr. Delap's widow.

In relation to the additional information requested by the Deputy regarding individual members of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, I am advised by the chairperson that as his organisation is a statutory body, independent in the performance of its functions under the provisions of sections 15 and 16 of the Refugee Act 1996, it would be inappropriate for him to provide the requested information.