Opposition politicians have dismissed Minister for Integration Conor Lenihan's criticism of barristers for causing delays to the asylum process and claimed the Government itself was to blame for the system's shortcomings.
Mr Lenihan told The Irish Timeslast week that cases taken by a "very active and voracious group of barristers" were to blame for the "grief and difficulty" surrounding the asylum process.
However, Fine Gael's spokesman on immigration and integration, Denis Naughten, said the asylum application process itself was a "complete shambles" characterised by unacceptable delays.
"These delays are totally unacceptable for persons who are genuine asylum applicants, and should not be tolerated for bogus applicants, and equally so for Irish taxpayers who are funding housing and board for such long periods," he said.
Mr Naughten noted that, as of last autumn, one fifth of all Civil Service posts dealing with asylum were vacant.
"If Conor Lenihan wants someone to blame regarding the delays in processing asylum applications, he should look closer to home. The fact is that there are currently no criteria available to the public on how asylum applications are evaluated, which frustrates genuine applications by immigrants and leads to concern from the public as to who gains access to this country, and how they do so."
Mr Naughten was also critical of funding cuts at the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service.
"The budget for 2008 has been cut by €4 million to help pay for the Office of Integration, which is run by Conor Lenihan. So it's a bit rich for [ Mr Lenihan] to be blaming the legal profession for delays in the asylum process.
"At present the Immigration Service has over 17,000 applications for citizenship alone, with a delay in processing these applications of between two and a half to three years."
Labour's Joe Costello described Mr Lenihan's comments as "little more than an unseemly cheap shot" and said they ignored the need for reform of the asylum process.
"The reality of the situation is that the asylum process is very cumbersome, while the appeal mechanism is totally unaccountable and non-transparent," he said.
"The Minister should concentrate on putting in place a streamlined asylum process, as outlined in the programme for government, so that all cases could be dealt with within the six-month timeframe promised by the Department of Justice.
"At present 50 per cent of cases are 12 months or more awaiting determination. Minister Lenihan should sort out his own house first, before laying blame on other people."
