A third fewer asylum applications finalised in 2020 due to Covid

A protest against the direct provision system for asylum seekers in 2019. Picture: PA

Close to 2,300 asylum applications were finalised in 2020, down a third compared to the volume processed in the previous year.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne, confirmed the figure in response to a parliamentary question on the impact of the  pandemic on asylum applications.