Asylum seekers face almost 18-month wait for decision on requests

Asylum seekers are waiting nearly 18 months for their applications to be processed by the International Protection Office (IPO) despite the Government's commitment to process requests within nine months.

Figures released this week show international protection applicants are waiting 17.6 months for their asylum request to be processed, while “prioritised applications” are waiting 12.7 months. This includes waiting an average of 9.8 months for their first IPO interview.

Applicants who appeal a negative first-instance decision to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) are waiting on average nine months for a decision, while it is understood a lack of language interpreters for audio-visual hearings during the pandemic is exacerbating these delays.

Responding to a parliamentary question from Independent TD Catherine Connolly, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said efforts to speed up the application process had been “seriously impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has reduced the output of decisions considerably”.

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Protection interviews were postponed with the return to Level 5 restrictions in late December, and would remain on hold until public health measures were eased, said Ms McEntee.

A Dr Catherine Day expert group report, published in October, called on the Government to process all asylum applications within nine months, and for IPAT to process appeals within six months.

The group also recommended that applicants who had been waiting for two years or more be given leave to remain for five years under a “one-off, simplified, case-processing approach” to clear the current backlog.

Ms McEntee has welcomed the recommendation to shorten the processing period ,and said “work is under way in my department towards achieving this objective”.

Irish Refugee Council chief executive Nick Henderson warned the delays were putting "lives on hold" while leaving direct provision residents with "uncertain futures" and living in communal settings where people were "particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 infection".

Mr Henderson echoed the UN’s assertion this week that it is possible to continue processing asylum applications in a safe and fair way during the height of the pandemic. “Personal interviews, we think, can occur in person with precautions. Moreover, we recommend dispensing of the personal interview when, based on available evidence, the applicant is a refugee.”

Applications for protection

Of the 7,494 people in Ireland seeking asylum, 5,259 are awaiting a first-instance decision on their case and 1,662 people are awaiting an IPAT decision.

Some 6,985 of these applicants are living in direct provision, including 1,993 children.

A total of 1,566 applications for protection were made in 2020, a significant drop on the 4,781 applications the previous year.

Meanwhile, Ms McEntee also announced on Thursday that asylum seekers can now apply to access the labour market after six months rather than waiting nine months, as has been the case since 2018.

She said applicants would also receive permission to work for 12 rather than six months.

The expert group has advised the right to work should be made available after three months.

Some 6,006 asylum seekers had received permission to work since June 2018, including 4,569 people living in direct provision.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission welcomed the announcement, but warned that discriminatory barriers such as accessing a driving licence and opening a bank account "continue to undermine the Supreme Court's landmark recognition of asylum seekers' right to work".