Asylum numbers reached ‘critical levels’ in 2000

THE Department of Justice was so overwhelmed by asylum applications in 2000 that it considered asking the army to house asylum seekers in tents, Justice Minister Michael McDowell informed the Dáil yesterday.

With asylum numbers at the time reaching 1,000 a month from a base of close to zero a year before, officials from the directorate for asylum support services - now the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) - travelled to the Netherlands to assess tented pavilions in use there.

“Quite clearly the situation had reached a critical stage. Accommodation facilities in the Dublin area had been exhausted and the number of persons travelling to the State to claim asylum had reached a level which was unthinkable six months previously.