Sweeping reform of the system for dealing with asylum applications has been approved by the Government.

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald got the backing of Cabinet colleagues for a Bill designed to streamline the current lengthy and expensive procedure for asylum applications.

Under the new system there will be one opportunity to have an asylum case heard and one right of appeal. At present asylum seekers can go through four stages before a decision on their application is finalised and the decision can then be appealed to the High Court, where there are further delays.

Under the current system an application for asylum is made to the Office of the Refugee Appeals Commissioner (ORAC). An individual has the right to appeal a decision to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. If that appeal is rejected, they can go back to ORAC with an application for “subsidiary protection” and, if that is rejected, a further appeal can be made.

After these avenues have been exhausted, an applicant can appeal to the minister and, if that fails, an application for a review can be made to the High Court.

High Court

Last autumn there were 1,300 asylum-related cases on the High Court list, and it was estimated that it would take four-and-a-half years to hear them.

The State has paid at least €30 million to barristers specialising in asylum cases arising from judicial reviews over the past decade. Several barristers employed by the Attorney General who specialise in asylum have earned, in some instances, between €250,000 and nearly €500,000 a year since 2002.

Under the plan being proposed, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal will be abolished and replaced by a new appeals system.