O'Callaghan's new asylum bill is set to shelve oral hearings for IPA appeals
Oral hearings for international protection applicants appealing asylum refusals are to be shelved, except in exceptional circumstances, under plans to be brought forward by the Justice Minister today.
A new International Protection Bill will be signed off by the Cabinet today, which will allow for the implementation of the controversial EU Asylum and Migration Pact.
Jim O'Callaghan is expected to tell Cabinet colleagues that the current international protection system is 'not working effectively, with decisions taking far too long'. Pic: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie
Sources have said this new legislation will provide for changes which include the streamlining of decisions and returns process, a new 'Border procedure' with a three-month time limit for decisions, limiting the use of oral hearings for appeals and new institutional arrangements for international protection decisions and appeals. Currently, appeals take between 12 and 14 months.
Sources said the system was becoming 'clogged up' because of the need for legal counsel and to obtain qualified interpreters to attend hearings. But with new EU rules stipulating that the initial application and appeal should be done in three months, Mr O'Callaghan intervened to suggest that appeals be limited to written in nature and only be oral in exceptional circumstances.
A Government source said: 'The Minister put this in himself.'
The EU Migration and Asylum Pact is a new EU framework to manage migration and asylum in the long term. The overall objective of the Pact is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure.
This will be done through convergence in asylum practices across the EU, and the Government hopes that the introduction of the Pact will reduce the number of applicants, firstly by reducing secondary movement through the EU, and secondly through the increased use of significantly accelerated processes. International Protection Office on Mount Street, Dublin. Pic: RollingNews.ie
The Government has moved to significantly tighten immigration policy in the past 18 months in response to a surge of international protection applicants after Covid restrictions eased.
The State is now more likely than ever to reject applications for International Protection, with 81% refused at first instance so far this year, compared to 52% rejected in 2017.
Ireland has seen applications for international protection soar since the pandemic. In 2022, 13,651 applied for international protection, with 13,277 in 2023. Applications for international protection in Ireland reached an all-time high in 2024 of 18,500.
The first charter flight with failed asylum seekers took off earlier this year, and Extra.ie has previously reported that it has become harder to claim asylum in Ireland over the past 12 months.
There have been 42% fewer applications in the number of International Protection applications in the first three months of 2025 compared to the first three months of 2024.
The new International Protection Bill will aim to bring about new efficiencies by enabling officers of the Minister to directly issue decisions on international protection and returns.
This will replace the current system of international protection officers issuing recommendations to the Minister. It is also understood that Mr O'Callaghan specifically wanted to amend the rules around what is known as a new 'Second Instance Body' to deal with appeals. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos
The new appeals body will operate separately from the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) and will only deal with appeals against international protection and return decisions made under the new Bill.
Sources said that the use of oral hearings will be 'extremely limited', to 'drive efficiency and time savings'.
Mr O'Callaghan is already implementing an accelerated processing system for those from designated safe countries of origin, applicants who have received protection elsewhere in Europe and citizens of countries from which there are the largest number of applicants.
Applications from countries subject to the accelerated procedure have reduced significantly since their introduction, and the numbers coming to Ireland to seek international protection have reduced.
The General Scheme of the International Protection Bill will essentially also give effect to the Asylum and Migration Pact, which Ireland signed up to last year.
The Bill will repeal and replace the International Protection Act 2015 in respect of applications lodged after 11 pm on June 11, 2026.
The Bill must be in place by June 2026, but the Government is hopeful that it will become law by the end of the year.
Under the draft legislation, which has been seen by Extra.ie, Mr O'Callaghan has set down a series of stringent rules which must be followed if an oral hearing is to be granted on appeal.
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