Address by Minister McDowell at the launch of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner's Corporate Documents

I am pleased to be here today to launch four important corporate documents published by the Refugee Applications Commissioner.

These documents are

The ORAC Annual Report for 2003.
The ORAC Strategy Statement 2004 - 2006.
The ORAC Corporate Plan 2004 - 2008.
The ORAC Customer Charter.

The Office of the Commissioner, which is a statutory office established under the Refugee Act, 1996, has now been functioning since November 2000. Together with the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, it has made a significant contribution to the Government's asylum processing strategy and to ensuring that the State continues to meet its obligations to the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees.

Each of these corporate documents illustrate the wide variety of tasks being carried out by the Commissioner and her staff in undertaking the primary function of her Office which is to investigate in a fair and efficient manner applications for refugee status and for family reunification.

The Third Annual Report for 2003 sets out clearly the key challenges which the Commissioner and her staff had to face last year including the processing of some 8500 cases in the asylum process; planning for and implementing the key changes to the Refugee Act, 1996 contained in the Immigration Act, 2003; implementing operationally the Eurodac fingerprinting Regulation from January 2003 and the new Dublin II Regulation from 1 September 2003 as well as developing customer and staff support services.

The Strategy Statement 2004 to 2006, which is the first Strategy Statement published by the Commissioner, will provide a comprehensive operational framework for the Office over the next three years and contains a number of important goals including developing the highest standards of investigation and decision making, contributing to the preservation of the integrity of the asylum process, the efficient and effective management of resources including staff resources and the delivery of excellent customer services.

The Corporate Plan 2004 to 2008 and Customer Charter also contain a number of firm commitments and objectives to be undertaken, along with the other documents, within the framework of the legislation dealing with the processing of asylum applications, namely the Refugee Act, 1996.

The Government considers that the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner as well as the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and the Reception and Integration Agency have a vital role to play in what is very much an end-to-end asylum process. This process has been put in place and highly resourced to deal with asylum applications from the time they are made, including at first instance and appeals, right through to the repatriation of those who have been found not to be in need of protection and the integration into Irish society of those applicants who obtain refugee status.

I believe that the challenges which the agencies in the asylum process have been required to meet over recent years have been met with vigour and efficiency and have substantially contributed to a radically changed situation from that which the State had to address when ORAC and RAT were first established in 2000.

Examples of this greatly improved situation in which we find ourselves today in the area of asylum include the fact that processing continues to move strongly and speedily in ORAC and RAT. Particularly praiseworthy is the situation whereby prioritised applications, which represent almost 50% of the caseload, are now being scheduled for interview in the ORAC four working weeks from the date of application with a recommendation generally furnished within two weeks of the interview.

Over 8500 cases were processed to finality by ORAC in 2003, while the number of appeals completed in RAT in 2003 was over 5,000. Cases awaiting processing in both organisations are continuing to decrease with applications over six months old in ORAC and RAT at the end of April this year being less than 3000. This compares with some 6,500 at the end of September 2001.

All of this must be seen against the background of a fall in asylum applications in the State by some 32% in 2003 which was the second highest reduction in the EU last year.

These results would not have been possible without the substantial resources allocated to the asylum area by the Government in recent years. A significant contribution was also made by the streamlined legislative framework for processing asylum applications which I introduced on 15th September last year on the commencement of the Immigration Act, 2003.

The changes contained in the Immigration Act, 2003 were aimed at ensuring that our asylum process was supported by a streamlined legislative framework to enable it to meet the dual challenge of providing protection speedily to those who require it while at the same time dealing with the high level of abuse of our process which has been taking place for a considerable period of time. This is partly illustrated by the fact that over 90% of applications, after independent determination at first instance and appeals and following access by applicants to comprehensive free legal advice, are found not to meet the refugee definition in the Geneva Convention and the 1996 Refugee Act.

However, the allocation of increased resources to the asylum area and the new legislative framework which I have referred to are not the only reasons why we find ourselves in a vastly improved situation insofar as our asylum system is concerned to that which we faced in 2000. This has also been due to the hard work and dedication of the staff working in the various agencies processing asylum applications. On behalf of the Government, I would like to express my appreciation to Berenice and all her staff and to John Ryan, Chairperson of the RAT and his staff for what has been achieved by both of your organisations over the last four years.

Returning for a moment to the four corporate documents which I am launching today. I also believe that the success of the Government's asylum strategy has been the result of good corporate planning and governance in the asylum agencies and in particular, the establishment of robust policies and procedures, the development and training for the staff involved in the determination process and investment in providing quality customer service as well as the capacity to respond to new trends.

These four corporate documents represent the continuation of this successful approach and should be seen not just in the context of an effective asylum determination process but in the wider sense of delivering high quality and good value for money public services in keeping with the public service modernisation programme generally.

Just as significant challenges had to be addressed in the last four years, I see a number of ongoing challenges which will have an important impact on the ORAC in the coming years.

Firstly, every effort must be made to ensure that the State continues to meet its obligations to genuine refugees under the 1951 Geneva Convention. I think that no one can be in any doubt about that commitment given the major investment of resources in the asylum area in recent years and the substantial progress which has been made including the significant contributions of the ORAC and RAT.

Secondly, the need to ensure that asylum applications continue to be investigated and quality decisions issued within short timeframes. This is a key objective of the Government's asylum strategy and is absolutely essential to preserve the integrity of the asylum process generally.

Thirdly, the ongoing successful impact of the Government's overall strategy in this area and the continuing trend of falling asylum numbers will see the movement of staff from asylum related functions to other areas of the immigration process to deal with huge workloads which currently exist in such areas as repatriation, voluntary returns and visas and citizenship. This was always seen as a key objective when the Government sanctioned significant additional staff for the asylum and immigration process in 2000.

I have no doubt, based on what you have achieved since your organisation was established, that these important challenges can be met by the ORAC. The strategic framework contained in your corporate documents will also greatly assist in this regard.

Once again, I would like to thank Berenice for inviting me here today and to wish ORAC continued success in the future in the important work you carry out in the field of refugee protection.

08/06/2005 Minister Announces increase in Refugee Resettlement Quota

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell T.D., today announced that he has received Government approval for the increase of the State's refugee resettlement quota from 10 cases (around 40 persons) to 200 persons per annum.

09/06/2004 Address by Minister McDowell at the launch of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner's Corporate Documents

17/07/2002 Speech by Mr Michael McDowell, T.D., at the publication of the First Annual Report of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner

I am very pleased to be here today to launch the First Annual Report of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner.

20/06/2002 Speech by Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform at the Launch on World Refugee Day of an Art Exhibition, 'The Art of Living', at the Centre for the Survivors of Torture

I am very pleased to have been invited here today to launch this week-long touring art exhibition, 'The Art of Living', to mark and link two important days in the international calendar - World Refugee Day, being celebrated today and United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on Wednesday next, 26 June.