Asylum seekers' appeal tribunal spent €1.4 million in fees last year

Ken Foxe

The tribunal for hearing asylum seeker appeals paid out nearly €1.4 million in fees last year, with one lawyer accounting for almost 15 per cent of that total.

Barrister John Noonan was paid €199,705 for his work with the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) in 2024.

He was one of two people who earned in excess of €100,000 for hearing cases involving failed applicants for international protection.

IPAT said fees totalling €1.37 million had been paid last year to 80 different legal practitioners for their work.

Payments ranged from six-figure sums to just €245 for lawyers who only took on one or two cases.

Four people earned between €50,000 and €100,000, while 17 were paid between €25,000 and €50,000 for their work with IPAT.

There were payments of between €10,000 and €25,000 for 13 lawyers, while 44 earned less than €10,000 for dealing with asylum appeals.

IPAT said that over the past 20 months, they had received more than 18,000 appeals from applicants who were refused the right to stay in Ireland.

During that period, 6,205 decisions were issued, of which 71 percent – or 4,408 cases altogether – were unsuccessful for the asylum seeker.

The IPAT data showed, however, that 1,797 applicants either had their original decision set aside or were granted refugee status on appeal.

Figures covering the period from January 2024 to the end of August this year also show that the highest number of appeals were received from citizens of Nigeria, Georgia, Algeria, Somalia, and Jordan.

Success rates varied by nationality, according to a database of cases.

For Georgians, 22 per cent of initially failed asylum claims were either granted or set aside following appeal.

Among Nigerians, the equivalent figure was around 14 percent, while Somalis successfully appealed in roughly 12 per cent of cases.

IPAT said the €1.37 million in fees were paid on the basis of set rates depending on the type of hearing involved.

For a “papers-only” case with no oral hearing, a tribunal member is paid €490, with higher fees applying if a spouse or children are involved.

In a case with an oral hearing, the fee is €730, again with higher rates if other family members are involved.

Decisions in cases over admissibility or follow-up appeals are paid at rates starting at €365, while fees are also payable where appeals are withdrawn.

For a case withdrawn prior to a hearing, the fee is €245 while if it’s withdrawn “post-hearing”, the payment rises to €490.

A fee of €245 also applies where a hearing is postponed on the day.

Asked about the records, a spokesperson said they had nothing further to add to the information that was released under FOI.