John Gormley
Ceist:145 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average length of time between applying for asylum and the decision from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2309/99]
Written Answers. - Asylum Applications.
Because of the very wide spectrum of cases and the considerable backlog of applications which I inherited on taking office as Minister, it is difficult to identify an average time from start to finish of the asylum determination process which would have any real meaning.
I can however inform the Deputy, that by the end of 1998, all applicants who had sought asylum in this State before January 1997 had been afforded the opportunity of a substantive interview. The first stage determination of asylum applications follows within a matter of weeks of the substantive interview in most cases. By July 1999 it is expected that all applicants who lodged a claim in 1997 will have been interviewed or offered an interview.
Simultaneously the task force which I put in place to deal with this matter is dealing with a mixture of new and old applications. At the current rates of progress and based on current application figures, I am advised that the task force will have dealt with the entire backlog of applications by July 2000 and from that date will be processing applications within weeks of arrival.
John Gormley
Ceist:146 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons seeking asylum in 1998; the number refused at first instance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2310/99]
The information requested by the Deputy is as follows:
1998
|
Number of Applications: |
4,626 |
|
Number refused at first instance: |
*338* |
*Refers to numbers refused for applications lodged in 1998.