Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 July 2022
11. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Justice the measures that are in place to deal with the recent rise in the number of persons seeking asylum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35965/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that there is an increasing number of people seeking asylum. I wish to establish what additional measures are being put in place to deal with these people to have their applications and needs met in a timely manner.
My objective is to have recommendations made as soon as possible on international protection applications. This ensures people who are found to be in need of protection can receive it quickly and can begin to rebuild their lives here with a sense of safety and security.
I assure the Deputy that my Department continues to innovate to improve our processes and to reduce processing times, in line with the recommendations made by the Catherine Day expert advisory group, and the commitments in the Government's White Paper published by my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman. However, the substantially high number of applications currently being received will, no doubt, present a significant challenge in achieving this. To the end of June this year, the international protection office of my Department has received 6,498 applications. This is a 191% increase on the same period in 2019, the last year in which application numbers were not impacted by Covid-19.
The restrictions on international travel for much of the past two years will naturally have created a higher demand for protection now that travel opportunities have resumed. Similar increases in application numbers are being experienced across a number of our fellow EU member states. The war in Ukraine is also having an impact. Some member states are currently hosting hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of people displaced from Ukraine, leaving them with reduced capacity to support asylum seekers from other countries. Ireland is no different in that regard.
My Department is taking all possible steps to ensure we can process applications as quickly as possible. An end-to-end review of relevant international protection processes by a number of multidisciplinary teams from my Department has been completed and published. New measures and procedures will continue to be put in place to improve efficiencies across all aspects of the protection process. Since the introduction of the new efficiency measures, in the first five months of this year we have been able to increase the number of first-instance recommendations and permission to remain decisions being made by the international protection office, IPO, by almost 50% when compared with the same period pre-Covid in 2019.
We will continue to look further at how we can increase the processing capacity of the IPO to match the very significant number of international protection applications being received, including through the recruitment of an external panel of barristers, solicitors and legal graduates, which is under way. Given the significant increase in applications, it is creating a significant challenge, even with those improvements and that increased timeframe.
A 191% increase is a phenomenal increase and a huge burden. It is also a huge burden on the people themselves who are coming in, where they are being processed and almost pushed out to other centres of emergency accommodation throughout the country. We have seen situations where people are arriving to emergency accommodation with no blue card and no PPS number and, as a result, they would not have access to basic services such as medical services and a range of other services. One can well imagine that this is a very distressing situation, for example, for one pregnant lady who arrived in Cork, and for everybody else who is looking to avail of services. I am aware that, since then, PPS numbers have been issued to people. Is there a catch-up phase there? Are other people being sent out to emergency accommodation without the basic PPS numbers, blue cards and so on?
The Deputy will appreciate that is a different Department, but I believe I can speak on behalf of all us when we acknowledge the huge amount of work that is being done by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, led by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, not just in responding to the significant numbers of people coming in from Ukraine, which is more than 40,000 people at this stage, but also with the significant increase in the international protection applications. It is vital an individual who comes to this country who seeks asylum is entitled to that process and that we would do so in as speedy a manner as possible. This is where my Department comes in, making sure we have the reforms and the structures in place to be able to respond and support them in as quick a manner as possible.
Separate to that, we have been involved in the development of the temporary protection mechanism, which are the letters the citizens from Ukraine receive. We work very closely with the Department of Social Protection and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to ensure they receive their PPS numbers on time also. This started initially with a one-stop shop in Dublin but it has since expanded and we have a number of one-stop shops now available to individuals. Where they do not receive their PPS number immediately, they can then go to an office at a later date. It is my understanding the vast majority of people who are now coming in are going directly to Citywest where they are now receiving their temporary protection mechanism. They are being supported, if needed, at a later date to make sure they have their PPS number. Obviously, this entitles them to the many other supports also.
I will focus on the non-Ukrainian people coming from many other areas.
There is a system for dealing with Ukrainian people seeking assistance but there are people coming from so many other different areas. Has the Minister identified why there is there is such an increase? Is the UK's decision on Rwanda having an influence on this and has she found the root cause because that would be significant in dealing with and handling the issue?
Accommodation was already a significant challenge for people. What measures are going to be in place to ensure there is satisfactory accommodation for people coming in so that they will be accommodated in a dignified and humane manner while their applications are being processed?
I thank the Deputy for his question. There are probably a number of factors which have resulted in the significant increase. Yes, it is true to say that one of those factors is possibly the policies which have been implemented within the UK and it is possible that the change and the sentiment following Brexit has also had an implication. Post the Covid-19 pandemic we have seen more people on the move, having not being able to move in the past number of years. There have also been other militating factors. The war in Ukraine has obviously displaced people further but there are also other significant natural events happening across the world with increased famine and climate change again creating a movement of people, in particular coming from Africa. There are a number of different factors and I do not think we could pinpoint just one. We have a number of different countries represented in the higher numbers of people who are coming. A number of people are also coming, potentially, for economic reasons and are seeking asylum so we have to take a number of different factors into account.
The most important part from my side is that we can process applications as quickly as possible. I will briefly mention a number of measures we have put in place. We are restructuring teams and case management units. We have an increasing output which is being offset by an unprecedented rise in application numbers but we are looking at a more efficient workflow. We are identifying and streamlining onerous processes and ensuring staff are directed to areas where they can add most value. A great amount of restructuring has happened and will continue but we are also moving things online. A great amount of investment is happening in our overall ICT infrastructure in immigration to ensure we can respond to people as quickly as possible.
