Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2013
886. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people in the asylum and related systems in direct provision at present; the number at 31 December 2010 and 31 December 2011, broken down by reference to the number of years persons are in direct provision in the case of the present numbers. [16303/13]
View answerThe Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), a functional unit of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department, is responsible for the accommodation of persons under the system of direct provision while their applications for international protection are being processed. RIA itself has no function in determining whether someone should stay or not in its accommodation, except in the context of rare instances of serious and repeated misbehaviour. Its function is to provide accommodation and ancillary services to those who have sought international protection and who otherwise have no means of supporting themselves.
In relation to the statistics below, the overall length of time taken to process cases to their finality is determined not just by the length of time taken to process the cases by the independent refugee determination bodies and by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) and but also by the length of time taken by the applicant/their legal representative to respond to requests for information, etc. In some cases applicants choose to change their legal representative and understandably it takes some time for the new representative to become familiar with the case. In many cases the applicant will not agree with the decisions reached and will continue to use every avenue open to them including referral to the Courts in that regard. This obviously impacts on the time the same applicants spend in the process and also in the Direct Provision system. While not suggesting that applicants are not entitled to the protection of the courts and to due process, a consequence of these actions is to extend the length of time the applicant spends in the Direct Provision system.
INIS has no desire to have applicants remain in the system any longer than the minimum period it takes to process their case. However, ultimately a balance has to be struck between maintaining the integrity of the State’s protection and immigration systems and the case put forward by the individual applicant all of which must be considered within the legal requirements and obligations. In the first instance requirements are set-down in primary and secondary legislation and these requirements are constantly evolving taking into account interpretation of the law by the Courts at both national and EU level.
As I have stated previously, the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, which I intend to re-publish, should substantially simplify and streamline the existing arrangements for asylum, subsidiary protection and leave to remain applications. It will do this by making provision for the establishment of a single application procedure, so that applicants can be provided with a final decision on all aspects of their protection application in a more straight forward and timely fashion.
Insofar as the statistics below are concerned, it is important to note that protection applicants are not required to live in RIA accommodation and in many cases may move in and out of the direct provision system as their circumstances change. In relation to the tables below, up and including 2010 duration of stay was calculated by reference to the time that had elapsed since residents first made an application for international protection. It does not necessarily mean that those persons have lived in RIA accommodation for all of that period. Arising from the creation of a new database which allows for more detailed information, since 2011 duration of stay is calculated from the date of the latest entry into RIA accommodation, rather than from the initial protection application. It does not include past time spent by residents who left the system for a period and subsequently sought and were granted re-access to the system.
Duration of Stay in RIA Accommodation
|
Months in RIA Accom. |
0>6 |
6>12 |
12>18 |
18>24 |
24>36 |
36+ |
Total |
|
No. Persons End 2010 |
522 8.7% |
449 7.5% |
476 7.9% |
529 8.8% |
1258 20.9% |
2778 46.2% |
6012 |
|
No. Persons End 2011 |
436 8.3% |
282 5.4% |
338 6.4% |
343 6.5% |
802 15.3% |
3040 58.0% |
5241 |
|
No. Persons 11 April 2013 |
400 8.4% |
453 9.6% |
333 7.0% |
218 4.6% |
481 10.2% |
2850 60.3% |
4735 |
A further breakdown of those staying in RIA accommodation longer than three years cannot be provided retrospectively but is available as and from a current date - in this case 11 April, 2013.
More Detailed Breakdown of Duration of Stay - 11 April, 2013
No. of Months spent by persons in RIA accommodation centres since latest entry into Direct Provision
|
0 > 6 |
400 |
8.4% |
|
6 > 12 |
453 |
9.6% |
|
12 > 18 |
333 |
7.0% |
|
18 > 24 |
218 |
4.6% |
|
24 > 36 |
481 |
10.2% |
|
36 > 48 |
557 |
11.8% |
|
48 > 60 |
724 |
15.3% |
|
60 > 72 |
621 |
13.1% |
|
72 > 84 |
475 |
10.0% |
|
84+ |
473 |
10.0% |
|
Total |
4735 persons |
