Subsidiary Protection under the provisions of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations, 2006 is a form of international protection offered to those persons who do not meet the criteria for recognition as a refugee but who nonetheless claim a risk of serious harm in their country of origin if repatriated there. Each application for Subsidiary Protection in the State is considered on the basis of its individual merits, having regard for the claims made by the applicant and measured against objective, reputable, up to date information relating to the applicant's country of origin.
Against this background, the Deputy will appreciate that the consideration of applications for Subsidiary Protection is a resource intensive process. The average waiting time for the processing of such applications is 8.7 months, based on decisions made on such applications in 2009. However, due to the high number of applications being received and the fact that no two applications will be the same in terms of their nature and complexity, the processing times can vary from case to case. Every effort is being made to ensure that applications for Subsidiary Protection are processed as promptly as possible. Additional staff members have been deployed to this area and investment has been made in the development of technology required to support and speed up the processing of these applications.
At 31 December 2009, there were 2,996 Subsidiary Protection applications awaiting a decision.
The table below sets out the other statistical information requested by the Deputy.
Subsidiary Protection (SP) statistics for 2009
Category
|
Total
|
SP applications received
|
2,089
|
SP applications granted
|
24
|
SP applications refused
|
653
|