There was a 3 per cent decline in the number of applications for asylum in the Republic last year, according to new figures released today.
New figures released by the Department for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, indicate that application numbers are at levels not seen since the mid-nineties.
Last year 3,866 people sought asylum, compared to 3,985 in 2007.
When voluntary returns, deportations and transfers are taken account of, a total of 952 persons were either assisted to return home voluntarily or were removed from the State last year. This marks a 23 per cent increase on the corresponding figure for 2007.
The largest share of applicants came from Nigeria (26 per cent), followed by Pakistan (6 per cent), Iraq (5 per cent), China (4.7 per cent), and Georgia (4.7 per cent).
Asylum applications reached a peak figure of 11,634 in 2002. Since then application figures have been continuously falling with the most dramatic decline occurring in 2004. In each year since 2006, the annual number of applications has been about one third of the number received in 2002.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern today welcomed the fall in asylum applications.
“Further reductions in asylum numbers and processing times are likely under the new single procedure for investigating asylum cases set out in the new Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill," he said.
"This reform of the processing framework will lead to the removal of the existing multi-layered and sequential process and will allow an applicant to get a final decision on their application in a more timely and efficient manner."
In 2008, 162 deportation orders to non-EU countries were affected.
In addition, 271 transfer orders to other European States under the Dublin II Regulation were effected – an increase of over 20 per cent on 2007.
The rate of success for effecting transfer orders signed last year was 74 per cent, up from 62 per cent in 2007 and 53 per cent in 2006..
An additional 519 persons were assisted to return home voluntarily, compared to 416 individuals in 2007.
New figures supplied by the Courts Service today reveal that there were 780 live cases in the list to fix dates in December 2008.
Hearing dates were assigned to 240 cases in the coming law term leaving 540 cases in the list.
Since the start of October 2008 the High Court has been taking in an average of 17 new cases per week.
The Courts Service said an extra four High Court judges will be appointed full-time to asylum hearings this month to get through the backlog of cases.
