The purpose of these Regulations is to give further effect in Irish law to the Asylum Procedures Directive 2005/85/EC.
The Regulations amend section 73(2) of the International Protection Act 2015. They add to the list of matters to which the Minister for Justice may have regard when deciding whether to prioritise the processing of an application for international protection or requesting IPAT to prioritise an appeal. The additions include whether the applicant is from a safe country of origin, and whether the country of origin of the applicant is a country in respect of which there are a large number of applications or appeals and there is a need to ensure an efficient processing of application or appeals.
The Regulations also insert a new section 73A into the International Protection Act 2015 to enable the Minister to accelerate the examination of any application, having regard to the matters in section 73(2).