Irish Supreme Court decision an opportunity to bring Ireland into line with EU laws on the rights of asylum-seekers

In response to today’s Irish Supreme Court decision on the right of asylum-seekers to work, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, expressed its hope that the Irish government will amend domestic legislation to bring it into line with European laws on the rights of asylum-seekers.

“Ireland is the only country in the European Union (EU) that currently prohibits asylum-seekers from entering employment, even after a period of delay” said Enda O’Neill, Head of Office with UNHCR Ireland. “Today’s Supreme Court Judgment confirms that Ireland’s own Constitution is in line with protections afforded by EU law”. 

The Supreme Court held unanimously that the indefinite ban on asylum-seekers seeking employment in Ireland is contrary to the constitutional right to seek employment. Under European Law, Member States must ensure that asylum applicants have access to the labour market no later than nine months from the date when the application for international protection was lodged, if they are still waiting for a first decision on their application. However, Ireland has decided not to apply this law as it retains an opt-in to all laws in the ‘Justice and Home Affairs’ sphere.

The 2015 McMahon report recommended that asylum-seekers enjoy the right to work if still waiting for a first decision after nine months. Under current processing times, asylum-seekers in many cases are likely to wait between 12-18 months to receive their first decision.

“Current backlogs mean that asylum-seekers are likely to wait for longer than nine months to get a first decision on their application. We urge the government to ensure sufficient resources to bring overall processing times down over the next 12 months," added O'Neill. "Timely appointments and the sufficient allocation of resources would ensure that only small numbers of applicants would ultimately need to have recourse to any new provisions on employment. It would equally provide those in need of international protection the opportunity to begin their integration process as soon as possible, and to reduce lengthy periods of time spent in Direct Provision, including vulnerable persons and children."