The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, is welcome to Seanad Éireann this morning. I rise today because this House cannot meaningfully discuss international protection or the functioning of the process of the International Protection Office, IPO, without access to the most basic operational data. Right now, we do not have that data. The matter I raise is the need for the Minister to provide the annual number of applicants who fail to attend their scheduled international protection interviews, to explain why this information is not stored in a systematic, accessible format and to set out when a proper system for the recording and reporting of these figures will be implemented. If the State cannot tell us the number of people who miss their interviews, how can it claim to understand the system it administers? How can we talk about capacity backlogs or efficiency when such fundamental facts are unknown?

Over the past year, I have repeatedly been told that no-show figures exist only within individual files and retrieving them would require an onerous manual trawl. Whether that is accurate or reflects deeper structural issues, the effects are the same - the Oireachtas is left without essential information. We cannot legislate, scrutinise policy or reassure the public in the dark. What makes this more troubling is that the Department’s standard operating procedure, SPO, shows that interview attendance is already recorded, reasons for no-shows entered, daily reports issued, spreadsheets updated and no-show statuses tracked. How can data captured across multiple internal points not be retrievable at an organisational level? This is not a criticism of staff but, rather, the systems design and governance. Without systemic data collection, we cannot identify trends, allocate resources or understand how much of the backlog is avoidable.

Public debate becomes guesswork, which is unfair on everyone involved. A modern asylum system must be evidence-based and transparent. Anything less is unsustainable. Today, I ask the Minister of State to do three things, namely, provide the most recent figures of interview no-shows; explain why they are not centrally stored; and commit to implementing a proper recording and reporting system in order that this House and the public can understand how the process is functioning.

I raise this matter because the public deserves clarity. The staff deserve workable systems and the Oireachtas deserves the information it needs to do its job. If the Minister is serious about transparency in the international protection process, then implementing systemic data recording on interview attendance is not just advisable; it is unavoidable.

I thank Senator Keogan for raising the matter, which I am taking of behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan. I assure the Senator that it is a central priority for our Department that our migration laws are robust and enforced. Over the last number of years, there has been a significantly increased investment into the international protection system to improve efficiencies and output, as well as enhancing the application, interview and decision-making process for applicants.

In 2025, the International Protection Office, IPO, delivered over 20,200 first-instance decisions. This is a 44% increase compared with approximately 14,100 decisions made in 2024.

In relation to applicants for international protection who do not present for their personal interviews, this can be due to a number of reasons, including where the applicant is unable to attend due to illness or extreme weather situations. When an applicant provides a medical certificate or a reasonable explanation, either prior to or within three working days of the missed interview, a new date for their interview is arranged. In situations where no medical certificates or reasonable reasons are forthcoming, the applicant's case is considered as potentially non-co-operative. This involves applications being assessed on the basis of the information that is on the file at the time. Where an applicant does not attend a scheduled interview but is able to provide a reasonable explanation or a medical certificate, the interview is rescheduled.

In relation to cases before the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, IPAT, where an appellant does not attend their scheduled hearing, a communication issues to them and their legal representative advising that they have a timeframe of three days in which to engage with the tribunal or else the appeal will be marked for withdrawal. If a response is received within the three days, the assigned tribunal member will consider if the explanation is acceptable to proceed. Where there is no contact, the tribunal issues a notification letter advising that the appeal is deemed withdrawn. Information recorded in this regard is not stored in a manner that allows detailed data to be extracted.

With the transition to the migration pact under way, system updates and moves to improved databases will allow for enhanced data processing and reporting. I can confirm that, from June, it is planned that all interview data will be collected in a manner that will allow for reporting.

I assure the Senator that the Department is committed to enhancing transparency and effective communication of the Department's work, including in the area of international protection.

As the Senator will be aware, Ireland has opted in to the EU asylum and migration pact, which will come into effect in June of this year. The pact will provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the European Union and through the introduction of streamlined and faster processing times. As part of efforts to improve efficiencies in the processing of applications, applications have been processed at both the IPO offices in Mount Street and at the Citywest reception centre for some time now.

On 1 July 2025, the Department introduced the first phase of a gradual transition to a new accelerated end-to-end process for applicants entering the international protection system in Ireland. This new accelerated process mirrors elements of the future broader procedure and screening required by the EU pact on migration and asylum, while still adhering to the International Protection Act 2015. We will continue to improve the efficiencies and the transparencies where possible in relation to the international protection process.