Vol. 554 No. 5
1428 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his Department will consider applications for asylum by per sons (details supplied); and if the political background of this case will be examined in detail in relation to their home country and their experience in the UK. [17325/02]
Under the Refugee Act, 1996, two independent statutory offices were established to consider applications-appeals for refugee status and make recommendations to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on whether such status should be granted.
These two offices are the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, which considers applications for a declaration as a refugee at first instance and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal which considers applications for a declaration at appeal stage.
A decision on the applications in question will be made upon receipt of the recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner or the Refugee Appeals Tribunal as appropriate.
In considering applications for asylum, the Refugee Applications Commissioner takes into account all relevant facts, including information relating to the applicant's country of origin, so as to assess whether the applicant would be likely to have a well founded fear of persecution.
