The average time for a first instance decision on asylum applications in Ireland is 14 months.
93% confidence
MigrationIreland
Omissions
The official metric reported by the Department of Justice is the median processing time, not the arithmetic mean (average). In skewed distributions like asylum processing times, the mean is typically higher than the median due to long-tail cases, so the true 'average' processing time may be longer than 14 months.
The figure of 14 months refers to full-year 2025 data. Some NGO sources, such as the Irish Refugee Council, reported a median of 16 months for 2025, and EMN Ireland reported over 16 months as of mid-2025, suggesting the 14-month figure may reflect accelerated processing in the latter part of the year.
The MEP did not cite a specific source for the claim, which would have strengthened its transparency.
Sources
PrimaryOireachtas (Irish Parliament) – Parliamentary QuestionIn 2025 the median processing time for IPO first instance decisions was 14 months (Accelerated cases were processed in four months, while all other cases were processed in 14 months).