Irish asylum appeals process to be boosted by 30 staff from EU agency

Up to 30 people from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) are to assist with processing asylum application appeals in Ireland. Picture: iStock 

Up to 30 people from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) are to assist with processing asylum application appeals in Ireland.

This work includes preparing appeal files for the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT), conducting research on country-of-origin information and international protection jurisprudence, and providing interpretation in difficult-to-source languages.

The new staff will help process appeals lodged at IPAT against first instance decisions on asylum in Ireland.

Rapid growth in asylum seekers

Ireland, like other EU member states, saw an increase in asylum seekers over the last years, with numbers increasing from 2,649 in 2021 to 18,561 in 2024. 

This increase has significantly impacted the appeal system, with around 15,929 cases pending appeal at the end of September 2025. As of October 5, some 10,836 international protection appeals have been accepted.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan announced the plan on Monday.

“I have been increasing resources in the end-to-end international process over the course of this year. The increased resources for the International Protection Office have led to a major increase in decisions being made and a consequential increase in cases at appeal stage,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

This agreement with the EUAA for further supports is a welcome addition and will help to speed up the decision timeframes in the tribunal, ultimately resulting in reduced timeframes for appeals. 

The plan will be valid until December, 31, 2026.

Cathal Malone, head of legal research with Thomas Coughlan and Co Solicitors, said that bringing in support staff to help prepare files, research and interpret less widely spoken languages seems “fairly unobjectionable".  A huge backlog already exists in tribunal appeals.

However, he questioned how much of preparing the asylum seeker’s file for the tribunal would now fall to EUAA staff.

Traditionally, the tribunal members would read the entire file, often inches thick, with reports on the applicant’s country of origin, transcripts from the applicant’s interview which could be hours long, and other supporting documentation.

“They're prepared for the hearing itself. The worry isn't so much if somebody is having to translate documents or doing some research that's then considered by the tribunal member. 

But what would be horrifying would be to turn up to the hearing and discover that the tribunal member, rather than actually reading the file, got a summary from somebody else.

“Because obviously there's key details and nuance that you need the tribunal member to be aware of."

More tribunal adjudicators — and more spaces in which to adjudicate — are also necessary to clear the backlog, he said.

Recruitment of tribunal adjudicators has been ongoing, with a drop in experience required — rather than an increase in pay or improvement in conditions — in a bid to widen the net and recruit more people to these positions, Mr Malone said.

IPAT members responsible for deciding asylum appeals no longer have to be practising lawyers in Ireland.

Now legal academics or people “in a profession that corresponds substantially to the profession of solicitor or barrister” and people from abroad can qualify to decide asylum appeals in Ireland.

'Quality of tribunals at risk'

“There's a shortfall, and they've been advertising fairly continuously for new ones. And they're basically reducing the qualifications necessary in order to be a tribunal member.

“The rates of pay and the workload were just not sustainable for a lot of people.

“But rather than increasing the benefits for tribunal members, they decided to reduce the qualifications that were needed.” 

Currently, most tribunal members are still practicing barristers and solicitors with significant experience working in this area, he said.

“Obviously, the reduction in the qualifications necessary is concerning," Mr Malone said. 

"But if you had people who were less qualified, who are then being assisted by unqualified people who aren't even in the room when the hearing is being conducted, then that would really lead to a dilution of the quality of the tribunal."