381. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of judicial reviews that were undertaken by asylum seekers against IPAT rulings for each of the past five years; the cost to the State in terms of free legal aid for those taking the judicial reviews and also for those defending against these judicial reviews, for each of the past five years. [67700/26]

It is a central priority for me that Ireland's immigration system is robust and rules-based.

In 2025, the International Protection Office (IPO) delivered over 20,200 first-instance decisions, compared to approximately 14,100 in 2024, representing a 44% increase. The International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) more than doubled the number of appeals closed, from 3,100 in 2024 to nearly 6,300 in 2025. This year, as of 20 September 2026, IPAT has already closed 6,693 appeals and is on track to significantly exceed the number of appeals closed in 2025.

The table below shows the appeals completed by year since 2021.

*as at 20/09/2026

The table below shows the number of Judicial Reviews taken against decisions of the IPAT from 2021 to 21 September 2026.

* as of 21/09/2026

Legal representation costs incurred in defending Judicial Reviews taken against decisions made by State entities, such as IPAT, are the responsibility of the Chief State Solicitor's Office and are not charged to the Department's Vote.

The Legal Aid Board (LAB) is the statutory independent body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means. Legal aid and advice are provided to international protection applicants under the International Protection Act 2015 and the International Protection Act 2026, including where an applicant seeks legal aid to bring Judicial Review proceedings against a negative decision of IPAT, the Minister, or the Tribunal for Asylum and Returns Appeals (TARA).

To assist the Deputy, I have made enquiries with the Legal Aid Board and have been provided with the following information.

Where an applicant seeks legal aid to bring Judicial Review proceedings against a negative decision of IPAT, the Minister, or TARA, legal aid may be granted for such proceedings. Unlike the earlier stages of the international protection process, Judicial Review proceedings are not covered by the International Protection Private Practitioners Panel and, therefore, where legal aid is granted for Judicial Review proceedings, the matter must be dealt with internally by a law centre.

The applicant must make a further application for legal services to the LAB. The applicant must satisfy the means and merits tests that apply to the grant of legal aid under the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995. The applicant must be financially eligible, with a disposable income of €18,000 or less and disposable capital of €100,000 or less. The applicant's case must also satisfy the merits test that applies under sections 24 and 28 of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995, namely:

• Whether a reasonable person of average means would pay for the proceedings with their own money;

• Whether a solicitor or barrister would advise them to do so;

• Whether there are reasonable grounds in law to institute or defend the matter;

• Whether the applicant has reasonable prospects of success in the matter;

• Whether the legal proceedings contemplated are the most appropriate method by which the matter can be resolved; and

• Whether the matter meets a cost-benefit analysis, balancing the likely costs involved against the benefit to the applicant.

Generally speaking, where legal services for international protection in connection with the IPO, IPAT or TARA have been provided by a private practitioner on foot of a legal aid certificate, and where grounds for judicial review have been identified by the private practitioner and the private practitioner considers the matter has reasonable prospects of success, it will usually be taken on by the private practitioner on a no fault, no fee basis.

One of the matters that LAB must also consider in assessing an application for legal services is the possibility that the legal representation sought may be obtained from a private solicitor and applicants are advised of the possibility that a private solicitor may take the matter on. However, if an applicant advises that he/she has been unable to secure representation privately then, due to the short time frames within which judicial review proceedings may be instituted, the application for legal services is accepted and the application is processed and a submission for a legal aid certificate is made on the basis of the above outlined merits criteria.

In the event that a legal aid certificate is refused, then that decision is subject to the usual right of review/appeal. From January 2021 to date, the Legal Aid Board have only issued one legal aid certificate to institute Judicial Review proceedings in international protection matters.

The LAB have provided a breakdown of the annual expenditure from 2020 to 2026 YTD in relation to the provision of legal aid and advice in international protection. The Legal Aid Board has advised that it is not possible to provide a breakdown of expenditure by application stage as this information is not recorded in a manner which allows for the collation of data as requested along the lines sought by the Deputy. As such, it is not possible for the Legal Aid Board to provide a breakdown of expenditure for international protection and immigration related judicial review and other court proceedings although, as noted above, there has only been one legal aid certificate issued to institute such proceedings since January 2021.

They have indicated that the annual expenditure in this table does not include pay or operational costs, as International Protection is one of many services provided by law centres and therefore the expenditure on International Protection cannot be extracted from the overall pay and operational costs for law centres.

The table is broken down by expenditure for private solicitors contracted through the Legal Aid Board’s Solicitors Panel for International Protection Matters and for barristers retained from the International Protection Barristers Sub-panel, as well as related service delivery costs such as expert medical reports, translations and interpreter services.

* Up to 31 August 2026

All data is correct at time of issue and may be subject to data cleansing.