FUNDING FOR AN additional 400 staff has been allocated in the Budget to the International Protection Office.

Making the announcement this afternoon, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said there would be a “significant expansion in the international protection processing system”.

As of the end of August, there were 511 staff within the IPO, meaning that the Budget measure will come close to doubling the existing number of workers.

It is generally accepted that decision-making on applications from asylum seekers is too slow and, in May, Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil that a “priority area of focus” was recruiting “both civil servants and panel members to increase case processing”. 

It is hoped the increase in headcount will enable the IPO to process over 11,000 more international protection applications next year.

As of August this year, there were 23,727 applications pending.

The Department of Justice also noted recently that the number of asylum applications continues to trend upwards. In August this year, there were 1,692 applications received for asylum, up from 1,158 in August 2023. 

The average number of applications per month between September 2023 and August 2024 was 1,637. 

Donohoe said the extra staff within the International Protection Office is part of a record allocation of €3.9 billion for the Justice sector. 

The funding will also provide for the recruitment of up to 350 additional staff in the Irish Prisons Service and investment in areas such as prisoner care and rehabilitation.

It will also go towards the hiring and training of a further 1,000 Gardaí and up to 150 Garda civilian staff.

An additional €7 million was also announced for organisations providing supports to victims of domestic and gender based sexual violence.