A DNA database — promised more than eight years ago —will be up and running in the coming weeks, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said.

Fears that the cost of taking in refugees will leave Ireland in breach of strict EU rules governing public spending have been downplayed.

The first people coming to Ireland under the Government’s new refugee action plan will not move into local communities until December at the earliest.

A race against time is under way to get Ireland ready to open its doors to refugees as warnings mount that preparations need to begin immediately.

The solicitor for a detained Afghan youth who was slashed across the face during Wednesday’s riot in Cloverhill Prison said his client is "deeply traumatised" by the experience.

It should have been easy to decide on an allowance increase for those in Direct Provision. However, these people have been let down again, writes Sue Conlon            

Ireland’s high rate of asylum refusal could be linked to the “highly adversarial process” faced by applicants, according to a report being launched today.

The Government has admitted that the cost of appealing Freedom of Information (FoI) requests is a “deterrent” to accessing data from public bodies.

THE need for radical change to the asylum seeker system as well as a “culture of disbelief” were highlighted by the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) yesterday.

MORE than €1.2 million was paid out by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) to lawyers of asylum seekers suing the state for refusing to allow them to stay in the country.

The number of asylum seekers wanting refugee status has fallen to a 15-year low.

A MAN’s life has been left in asylum-seeking limbo for 14 years, while he has attempted to navigate the broken asylum system which has been threatening to deport him since 2000.

UP to 5,500 people who are claiming asylum are not living in the state-provided accommodation centres where asylum seekers are expected to reside, and so fall outside official figures.

THERE were 2,689 applications for refugee status received by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) last year — a 30% decrease on 2008 figures.

WITCHCRAFT and other threats have been used by employers to keep control of workers trafficked into Ireland for the sex industry and labour market.

A Libyan teenager who threatened to follow an employee of the Refugee Reception and Integration Office home and burn down her house after his request for accommodation was refused has been given a partly suspended sentence.

GARDA power to hold on to fingerprints of suspects indefinitely is due to end under planned changes to the law, the Irish Examiner understands.

A Libyan teenager who threatened to follow an employee of the Refugee Reception and Integration Office home and burn down her house after his request for accommodation was refused has had his sentence adjourned.

IRELAND has been accused by American authorities of failing to properly tackle human trafficking, as new figures also show a fall in asylum applications and legal challenges to refugee decisions.

REFUGEES are being put off from seeking a safe haven in Ireland following changes in the asylum process that identifies those who have already sought sanctuary in another European country.

A GREAT deal of the panic that caused such decimation on the world’s financial markets is caused by uncertainty; by not knowing what is really going on.

GARDAÍ and immigration officials are unlikely to be subject to Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation any time soon — despite calls from civil rights campaigners to expand the law to bring them under its remit.

INFORMATION commissioner Emily O’Reilly has criticised the Government for allowing some leading public bodies to remain outside Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation.

ONE in 10 refugees coming to Ireland have already tried to seek asylum in another European country.

ASYLUM applications continued to be made at the rate of a dozen a day last year but 11 out of every 12 were refused.

Around 360 refugees sought asylum in Ireland every month last year, new figures revealed today.

HARDLINE tactics to root out bogus asylum seekers by Justice Minister Micheal McDowell were deemed “disturbing” yesterday, as new figures showed a massive fall in the number of people seeking asylum.

Asylum applications by more than 200 Roma gypsies from Romania have been rejected without even being considered, Tánaiste and Justice Minister Michael McDowell revealed tonight.

OVER 5% of asylum seekers who applied to stay in Ireland last year made their applications from their prison cells.

One hundred and thirty more public bodies are coming under the remit of the Freedom of Information Act this week.

The Government has reportedly extended the Freedom of Information Act to cover 137 extra public bodies.

FINE GAEL has again called for an urgent revamp of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal following revelations that €7.7 million has been paid to 33 part-time members since 2001.

FINE Gael has called for the asylum system to be overhauled to ensure applicants do not have to endure “an endless legal limbo”.

A humanitarian quota system should be set up to give asylum to 1,000 victims of conflict or natural disasters each year, it was claimed today.

THE Government's ongoing "culture of secrecy" in the operation of Freedom of Information legislation has been criticised by Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly.

A GROUP of Afghan asylum seekers protested outside the Dáil yesterday, highlighting the high numbers who have been turned down for refugee status.

The threat of deportation is deterring more and more refugees from seeking asylum in Ireland, it was claimed today.

A TOTAL of 1,117 people were refused entry to Ireland in the first three months of this year.

TWO letter writers (Irish Examiner, November 1) do not want people deported who had applied for residency before January 2003 on the basis that they had had a child in Ireland.

APPLICATIONS for asylum fell by a third last year, according to official figures published yesterday.

COMPULSORY bone density tests may be introduced to check the ages of asylum seekers who arrive unaccompanied in Ireland claiming to be under 18.

THE number of applications for asylum is expected to fall by about 20% by the end of the year, the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) said yesterday.

REFUGEE groups last night expressed concern that asylum seekers can be held in prison for up to 21 days from Monday following changes to the law.

New figures show that a record number of new refugee applications have been lodged in Ireland.