Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 May 2025
303. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice the number of applicants who have applied for subsidiary protection in the years 2022-2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21840/25]
View answerThe International Protection Office (IPO) is responsible for processing applications for international protection under the International Protection Act 2015. As part of the single procedure process, the IPO considers refugee status, subsidiary protection and permission to remain for each application. Individuals who apply for international protection are therefore applying to be considered for subsidiary protection as part of the same application process.
The number of applications for subsidiary protection are therefore the same as the number of applications for international protection, as detailed in the table below:
|
International Protection Applications 2022 - 2025 |
|
|
2025 |
3,947 |
|
2024 |
18,557 |
|
2023 |
13,266 |
|
2022 |
13,643 |
*To 27th April
**Figures correct at time of issue and may be subject to data cleansing.
If it is decided that a person is not a refugee, they may qualify for subsidiary protection.
This is a status which in some ways is similar to that of refugee. It is granted where the person does not qualify as a refugee, but where the person faces a real risk of suffering serious harm in his or her country of origin.
The precise definition of subsidiary protection according to the International Protection Act 2015 is that a person eligible for subsidiary protection is a person
• who is not a national of a Member State of the European Union,
• who does not qualify as a refugee,
• in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that he or she, if returned to his or her country of origin/country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm, and who is unable, or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country; and
• who is not excluded from eligibility for subsidiary protection for certain reasons.
The EU Migration and Asylum Pact is a new EU framework to manage migration and asylum for the long-term which will be implemented in June 2026. The overall objective of the Pact is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the EU.
Under the Pact current international protection decision process will be replaced by a streamlined single first-instance decision on refugee status, subsidiary protection, and return/permission to stay followed by a single appeal to cover refugee status, subsidiary protection, and return/permission to stay.
