Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 June 2014
162. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the exact number and cost of judicial review of applicants resident in direct provision facilities broken down by year over the past nine years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26290/14]
View answer165. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of judicial reviews of those residing in direct provision here that have been conducted by year, by facility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26293/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 162 and 165 together.
The detailed historic information requested by the Deputy in relation to judicial reviews taken by persons in direct provision is not available as records were not maintained in a way which would facilitate the production of such information. However, I can tell the Deputy that in February 2014 there were approximately 900 judicial reviews involving individuals resident in Direct Provision accommodation. It should be noted that the actual number of persons residing in Direct Provision accommodation whose applications are subject to judicial review is a multiple of this figure because, for instance, as families are normally processed by ORAC, RAT and INIS together, a judicial review taken by a single member of a family will have the effect of holding up the processing of a number of persons in the system.
With regard to the question of costs, the costs of judicial reviews and other legal costs from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) budget amounted to €8.6m in 2011, €6.3m in 2012 and €5.8m in 2013. While the downward trend in costs is very welcome, I am concerned with the overall high number of judicial reviews within the system. It is clear that the multi-layered and sequential processes associated with the current protection system and the related delays in finalising protection decisions are key contributors to those high numbers.
In that regard, legislating to establish a single protection procedure is a priority in that it will provide the legislative framework for removing the structural delays which are a feature of our existing protection system. I am particularly anxious, therefore, to ensure that legislation in this area is brought forward this year .
