State expected €15m legal bill over failed asylum seekers and deportation cases

Ken Foxe

The Department of Justice anticipated it would need a €15 million war chest to fight legal challenges next year from failed asylum seekers and those facing deportation.

In internal discussions, the International Protection Office (IPO) said “exceptionally high levels of litigation” could be expected as they dramatically speed up the time it takes to deal with applications for refugee status.

The IPO said the higher number of negative decisions and deportations would inevitably lead to a surge in judicial reviews.

As part of pre-budget submissions, the office said removing failed asylum seekers from the State more quickly was critical because it would stop people from “accumulating more rights.”

It claimed this would make their deportation easier, reduce accommodation costs, and discourage people from coming to Ireland in the first place.

The submission said: “The faster that final decisions can be made on an individual international protection application, the easier it is for a removal to take place.

“Additionally, the perception of lengthy processing times in the system may attract additional applications.”

The pre-budget papers said the expected increase in refusals would have a domino effect across the entire asylum system, including the appeals body IPAT and in the courts.

In an email, Richard Dixon – the Chief International Protection Officer – told colleagues a failure to adequately fund the asylum system would reduce their ability to manage applications.

He said it would lead to increased costs in the delivery of accommodation, social welfare, and other entitlements for asylum seekers.

Mr Dixon warned as well of “increased risk regarding judicial reviews and other legal costs.”

His email concluded: “Any reduction in capacity runs the risk of reducing public confidence in the integrity of the immigration system.”

In later correspondence, he issued a stark warning that a reduction in the IPO budget would compromise their ability to make decisions.

Mr Dixon wrote: “There will be fewer decisions, fewer deportation orders and fewer removals from the state.”

He warned also of any slowdown in plans for modernising the application system, saying this would increase “the cost per processed application.”

A detailed pre-budget submission said the number of decisions being made had more than doubled over the past three years.

It said this required “scaling up” of all other parts of the asylum system, including deportation operations, appeals, and legal services.

The submission explained how a €5.8 million cash boost for the IPO in 2023 to deal with unprecedented demand had not been repeated.

“These core funds have not been re-instated and should be re-instated as requested for 2025 and 2026,” it read.

The document explained how the EU Migration Pact would set strict timeframes for dealing with requests, meaning new staff would be needed to clear existing backlogs.

The submission warned: “Not investing in staff, technology, process and infrastructure has financial and reputational consequences for the state.”

Asked about the discussions, a Department of Justice spokesman said: “It is a priority … to have recommendations made on all international protection applications as soon as possible.

“This gives status to those who are entitled to international protection to rebuild their lives here, while also ensuring faster decision making in respect of those who do not meet the criteria.”

The spokesman said the EU Migration Pact would be fully implemented next year, with a budget increase of 50 per cent to accelerate processing and €7.5 million for voluntary returns and deportations.

He added that substantial increases in pay funding would allow for recruitment of extra staff to help streamline the system.