Asylum system overhaul called for

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

A fair, transparent and expeditious process was crucial, the party’s justice spokesman Jim O’Keeffe said yesterday.

“Those who are entitled should be accorded their rights to live and work in Ireland. Those who are not so entitled should have their cases dealt with expeditiously so they are not consigned to an endless legal limbo,” he said.

Asylum seekers apply first to the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC). They fill out a questionnaire and are then called for interview, following which the ORAC forwards a recommendation to the Justice Minister.

If the ORAC’s recommendation is favourable, the minister will usually grant the applicant refugee status. Where unsuccessful, the applicant can appeal to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT), a process which can take weeks or months.

Mr O’Keeffe said there were concerns with both the ORAC and RAT. He believed the ORAC treated applications in an adversarial way.

In the case of the RAT, he said: “It has been highlighted that certain members have refused virtually all applications which they processed, giving rise in very many instances to the lengthy and costly process of judicial review.”

Last year, there were 159 High Court reviews, costing the taxpayer more than €2.6 million.

Mr O’Keeffe said the tribunal should be streamlined, as the current set-up of 35 part-time members militated against specialisation and consistency. He also recommended that the chairman be chosen from the ranks of the judiciary.