Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2020
359. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons in the direct provision system who are waiting to have a first hearing, waiting on an appeal and on a deportation order, respectively; the length of time each person had been waiting on 31 May 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11157/20]
View answerThe following table provides details of the number of pending applications in the International Protection Office for persons residing in direct provision, on 31 May 2020*.
|
Case Stage/Length of Time |
Less than 3 months |
3 to less than 6 months |
6 to less than 12 months |
12 to less than 18 months |
18 to less than 24 months |
24 months plus |
Total |
|
1. Cases at initial stage of processing |
118 |
424 |
620 |
51 |
16 |
25 |
1254 |
|
2. Cases at Interview stage |
3 |
15 |
283 |
141 |
45 |
38 |
525 |
|
3. Cases awaiting decision |
0 |
6 |
155 |
428 |
249 |
173 |
1011 |
|
4. Cases awaiting interview or Decision of a parent |
26 |
155 |
318 |
162 |
64 |
18 |
743 |
|
Total |
147 |
600 |
1376 |
782 |
374 |
254 |
3533 |
*Please note these figures may be subject to data cleansing.
Case Stage 4 - these are dependent children whose claim is included with those of a parent. It is not possible to separate them into pre and post interview.
There are 1,606 appeals on hand at the International Protection Appeals Tribunal as of 31 May 2020. The Tribunal does not maintain statistics pertaining to appellants’ residence in the Direct Provision system on its databases. Immigration Service Delivery records indicate that of the 1,606 appellants, 1,028 were recorded as being in Direct Provision on 31 May 2020.
In terms of persons with a Deportation Order, my Department’s records show that the number of persons in Direct Provision accommodation on whom a Deportation Order has been served is 374.
My Department’s records show that a further 57 Deportation Orders have been made in respect of Direct Provision accommodation residents in the period leading up to the COVID-19 restrictions, but, owing to the disruption to many areas of the Immigration Service caused by the pandemic, these Orders have not yet been ‘served’ on the relevant persons. Those Orders will be served on the relevant persons as soon as it is possible to do so.
A further 55 cases have been identified where the relevant international protection and permission to remain claims have been refused but, due to the pandemic restrictions, these cases have not been progressed to a conclusion.
In this context, the Deputy might note that section 51 of the International Protection Act 2015 provides that a person refused international protection and permission to remain and who does not avail of the option of voluntary return shall, subject to the refoulement consideration provided for in section 50 of the same Act, have a Deportation Order made in respect of them. However, that will be conditional on the relevant person not having another form of permission to remain in the State or not having another type of immigration application remaining to be determined. All such matters are investigated, as part of the formal due diligence process, before a decision to make a Deportation Order is taken.
