Lives of asylum seekers ‘wasted’ due to application delays

Asylum seekers are facing "systemic and pernicious" delays in having their applications processed, resulting in years of their lives being wasted, the national human rights body has warned.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission will highlight the problem at the UN next month when Ireland’s record on human rights issues in general is put under the spotlight

Betty Purcell, acting chairwoman of the commission, said a process meant to take six months was taking five to 10 years for many applicants.