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Tents belonging to asylum seekers set up along the banks of the Grand Canal, within view of the IPO office on Mount Street, in August 2024 © RollingNews.ie

Almost 22,000 international protection cases pending at end of 2023, despite drop in applications

There was a 90% increase in decisions made by the International Protection Office in 2023, but a threefold increase in appeals also happened that year.

THERE WERE 21,850 applications pending at the International Protection Office (IPO) at the end of 2023, a 47% increase compared with 2022, according to a new report.

The large backlog existed despite a 90% increase in decisions made by the IPO in 2023, as well as a 3% reduction in applications.

However, there was also a threefold increase in appeals in 2023.

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The figures are included in a report by European Migration Network (EMN) Ireland, part of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), which is due to be published later today.

EMN Ireland is funded by the European Union and the Department of Justice. 

The report notes that decisions by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) increased by 22% in 2023 (1,588 decisions were made), and the median processing time reduced from 10.2 months to 5.5 months. 

However, the scale of the increase in appeals taken meant there was a 359% increase in the number of applications on hand at the end of 2023 than in 2022.

A total of 4,775 appeals were made to IPAT in 2023 – a 305% increase on 2022 and the highest number since the foundation of the tribunal.

At the end of 2023, 3,908 appeal applications were on hand – a 359% year-on-year increase.

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Some 8,380 recommendations were made by the IPO in 2023, representing a 90% increase. Most of these (61%) were refusals. Of the positive recommendations, the majority (76%) were for refugee status.

The IPO needs increased capacity to decide on appeals, the report notes.

IPAS centres

The report also states that the number of people seeking international protection in Ireland has led to challenges with reception accommodation.

The number of people in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) at the end of 2023 increased by 42% year-on-year, and over 2,000 applicants were not offered accommodation on arrival.

Several related legal cases were taken in 2023.

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However, the report notes that efforts continued to be made to progress implementation of the White Paper to End Direct Provision, including inspections of IPAS accommodation centres by the Health Information and Quality Authority.

The introduction of local authority integration teams, and funding for extra supports for families and children living in centres,”represented significant progress” in this area.

Residence and employment permits

Overall, immigration in Ireland increased by 5% in the year to April 2024 – still slightly lower than the peak in 2007, the report notes. Immigration from outside the EU or UK made up 58% of this, which includes Ukrainians.

There was a 24% increase in all valid residence permits (which are issued to non-
European Economic Area citizens, excluding beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine) in 2023.

Some 30% of these permits were for employment, 21% for education, 19% for family, 27% for other reasons, and 3% for international protection.  

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The most common sectors for employment permits were health and social work activities (32%), followed by information and communication activities (16%).

Almost 34,000 PPS numbers were allocated to arrivals from Ukraine in 2023, almost half the 2022 figure (around 67,000). Similar to 2022, women made up 48% of arrivals, and children 28%.

Speaking about the report, co-author Keire Murphy said the document “shows that while challenges in reception and processing for international protection as well as displacement from Ukraine continued, most migration is still for employment, education, and to join family”.

Integration and education

This year’s report includes basic statistics on migrant integration for the first time. It  highlights considerably higher educational attainment among non-EU migrants than either Irish-born or EU migrants.

All three groups show a 10-year high in employment rates, with a significant increase in non-EU migrants in particular, according to the report.

However, the ‘At Risk of Poverty and Social Exclusion’ rate was 25% for non-EU migrants, higher than both EU and Irish-born populations (both 17%) – but this has been trending downwards since 2013.

Dervla Potter, another co-author of the report, said that 2023 “saw significant migration and asylum developments, in a changing wider context of labour market shortages, increased cost of living, housing crisis and increase in anti-migrant sentiment”.

“The report underscores the challenges faced in responding to these developments and highlights the need for preparation and planning to ensure Ireland has the infrastructure for an increasing population.”

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