Just seven of the 5,500 applications made since the beginning of this year for asylum in the State have been granted by the Department of Justice, it was confirmed yesterday.
The Department has acknowledged there are considerable delays between the time refugees lodge applications for asylum and a decision being made on their application.
However, a spokesman for the Department said every effort was being made to deal with applications as quickly as possible.
"The situation is evolving constantly. It's unfair on everybody concerned and it must be distressing for applicants who are waiting," the spokesman said.
"An interdepartmental committee is looking at the situation and is trying to alleviate the problem. A solution has to be found," he added.
The delay in dealing with applications lodged in 1999 is partly because of a backlog of applications which built up in recent years due to a shortage of staff to assess them. The increasing numbers seeking asylum has also resulted in delays.
"Nobody could have predicted the doubling of applications between July and October," the spokesman said. The number of applications for asylum peaked last month at 1,051.
The number of cases waiting to be processed stands at 8,150. The Department points out that while just seven of this year's applications have been granted, 210 were withdrawn and 140 were refused. The others are waiting to be processed.
It also stressed that additional staff had been employed to process applications and up to 200 people were now working in this area. They had processed more than 4,500 applications so far this year. Some of these dated back to 1997.
In 1996, 171 of the 1,179 applications for asylum were granted; in 1997, 119 of the 3,883 requests were granted and in 1998, 77 of the 4,626 requests lodged succeeded.