As the Deputy is aware when a person comes to Ireland seeking international protection status under international law, the State offers inter alia full bed and board including all utilities, medical facilities ensuring the applicant’s basic needs are met while their application is being processed. This is referred to as ‘direct provision’ and not all applicants take up this offer.
On 6 May 2018, the Reception and Integration Agency of my Department had contracts for 35 accommodation centres for protection applicants. Accommodation centres are located in the following counties: Clare; Cork; Dublin; Galway; Kerry; Kildare; Laois; Limerick; Longford; Louth; Mayo; Meath; Monaghan; Sligo; Tipperary; Waterford; and Westmeath. The 2018 budget for this accommodation is €66.6 million.
On 31 December 2016, the International Protection Act 2015 (IPA 2015) was commenced, providing for the introduction of a single application procedure for people seeking international protection in the State. The 2015 Act replaces the previous sequential application system with a single application process, for asylum, subsidiary protection and permission to remain in the State, bringing Ireland into line with the processing arrangements applicable in other EU Member States. However, the Act also contained transitional arrangements which has put further pressures on processing. The main challenge now faced is the need to quickly process the substantial number of cases on hand many of which were carried over from the previous system.
As of 17 May 2018, there are a total of 3,002 applications for international protection pending in the International Protection Office awaiting a first instance decision, where the applicant is accommodated under the system of Direct Provision. Over half of these cases are less than one year in the system, 95% are two years or less and 99.5% are three years or less. Just 15 cases have been identified as pending in the IPO for more than 3 years and the length of time taken to process these particular cases may be due to the personal circumstances of the applicant. This is a major improvement from the situation when the McMahon Working Group reported on the matter in June 2015.
Some 535 of the 3,002 pending applications were made before the commencement of the 2015 Act but were not finalised by the former Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and the former Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) by that date. These applications reverted to be processed by the IPO under the transitional provisions of the International Protection Act 2015.
The following table shows the number of persons residing in accommodation provided under the system of Direct Provision. The figures include both applicants and persons who are outside the protection process who remain in Direct Provision while they transition to mainstream accommodation. No breakdown is provided for nationalities with less than 10 applicants due to the increased risk of their identification, which is prohibited under Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015.
Female
|
Nationality
|
under 18
|
18-35
|
36-50
|
51-65
|
65+
|
Total
|
|
Afghanistan
|
6
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
11
|
|
Albania
|
58
|
90
|
32
|
4
|
1
|
185
|
|
Algeria
|
7
|
10
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
|
Angola
|
5
|
12
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
20
|
|
Armenia
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
|
Bangladesh
|
22
|
25
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
52
|
|
Benin
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
|
Bolivia
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
|
Botswana
|
3
|
5
|
9
|
1
|
0
|
18
|
|
Brazil
|
3
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
|
Burundi
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
|
Cameroon
|
7
|
18
|
12
|
0
|
2
|
39
|
|
Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The
|
55
|
66
|
24
|
5
|
0
|
150
|
|
Congo, The Republic Of The
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
|
Cote D'Ivoire
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
|
Egypt
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|
Eritrea
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
|
Ethiopia
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
|
Georgia
|
30
|
37
|
22
|
9
|
0
|
98
|
|
Ghana
|
3
|
6
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
14
|
|
India
|
3
|
13
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
19
|
|
Iran (Islamic Republic Of)
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
11
|
|
Iraq
|
11
|
15
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
34
|
|
Kenya
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
|
Kosovo / UNSCR 1244
|
7
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
|
Kuwait
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
|
Liberia
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
|
Malawi
|
33
|
55
|
20
|
5
|
0
|
113
|
|
Malaysia
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
|
Mauritius
|
11
|
4
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
20
|
|
Morocco
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
|
Nepal
|
3
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
|
Nigeria
|
119
|
121
|
110
|
12
|
1
|
363
|
|
Pakistan
|
82
|
63
|
46
|
5
|
2
|
198
|
|
Palestinian Territory, Occupied
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
|
Russian Federation
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
9
|
|
Rwanda
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
|
Sierra Leone
|
7
|
11
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
|
Somalia
|
3
|
13
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
19
|
|
South Africa
|
55
|
56
|
36
|
8
|
3
|
158
|
|
Sri Lanka
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
|
Sudan
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
|
Swaziland
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
|
Syrian Arab Republic
|
100
|
76
|
25
|
8
|
2
|
211
|
|
Togo
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Uganda
|
2
|
7
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
12
|
|
Ukraine
|
5
|
6
|
6
|
4
|
2
|
23
|
|
Venezuela
|
1
|
9
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
12
|
|
Zambia
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
|
Zimbabwe
|
94
|
193
|
85
|
7
|
0
|
379
|
|
Others
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
2365
|
Male
|
Nationality
|
under 18
|
18-35
|
36-50
|
51-65
|
65+
|
Total
|
Grand Total
|
|
Afghanistan
|
10
|
146
|
17
|
3
|
0
|
176
|
187
|
|
Albania
|
73
|
142
|
42
|
11
|
0
|
268
|
453
|
|
Algeria
|
9
|
81
|
38
|
2
|
0
|
130
|
151
|
|
Angola
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
29
|
|
Armenia
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
13
|
|
Bangladesh
|
13
|
102
|
44
|
0
|
0
|
159
|
211
|
|
Benin
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
10
|
|
Bolivia
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
11
|
|
Botswana
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
24
|
|
Brazil
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
10
|
|
Burundi
|
1
|
6
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
11
|
16
|
|
Cameroon
|
5
|
11
|
9
|
2
|
0
|
27
|
66
|
|
Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The
|
63
|
74
|
46
|
3
|
0
|
186
|
336
|
|
Congo, The Republic Of The
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
11
|
|
Cote D'Ivoire
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
11
|
|
Egypt
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
15
|
16
|
|
Eritrea
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
12
|
|
Ethiopia
|
4
|
4
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
15
|
23
|
|
Georgia
|
31
|
101
|
53
|
8
|
0
|
193
|
291
|
|
Ghana
|
5
|
12
|
20
|
1
|
0
|
38
|
52
|
|
India
|
4
|
19
|
10
|
1
|
1
|
35
|
54
|
|
Iran (Islamic Republic Of)
|
0
|
15
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
19
|
30
|
|
Iraq
|
16
|
37
|
10
|
2
|
0
|
65
|
99
|
|
Kenya
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
11
|
|
Kosovo / UNSCR 1244
|
2
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
11
|
25
|
|
Kuwait
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
13
|
16
|
|
Liberia
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
9
|
11
|
|
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
|
4
|
14
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
29
|
|
Malawi
|
38
|
60
|
23
|
1
|
0
|
122
|
235
|
|
Malaysia
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
8
|
16
|
|
Mauritius
|
5
|
6
|
9
|
1
|
0
|
21
|
41
|
|
Morocco
|
3
|
8
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
17
|
24
|
|
Nepal
|
2
|
9
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
13
|
22
|
|
Nigeria
|
149
|
72
|
96
|
8
|
0
|
325
|
688
|
|
Pakistan
|
84
|
231
|
124
|
21
|
5
|
465
|
663
|
|
Palestinian Territory, Occupied
|
4
|
16
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
23
|
30
|
|
Russian Federation
|
3
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
0
|
15
|
24
|
|
Rwanda
|
5
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
16
|
|
Sierra Leone
|
7
|
12
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
44
|
|
Somalia
|
4
|
14
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
25
|
44
|
|
South Africa
|
78
|
18
|
44
|
11
|
0
|
151
|
309
|
|
Sri Lanka
|
1
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
13
|
|
Sudan
|
2
|
13
|
15
|
0
|
0
|
30
|
36
|
|
Swaziland
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
17
|
|
Syrian Arab Republic
|
94
|
118
|
31
|
13
|
1
|
257
|
468
|
|
Togo
|
0
|
5
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
10
|
|
Uganda
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
17
|
|
Ukraine
|
4
|
4
|
7
|
2
|
1
|
18
|
41
|
|
Venezuela
|
3
|
11
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
19
|
31
|
|
Zambia
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
10
|
|
Zimbabwe
|
77
|
123
|
63
|
2
|
0
|
265
|
644
|
|
Others
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
181
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
3286
|
|
|
|
Grand total
|
|
|
|
|
|
5832*
|
*Grand total of Female male and others
