Ireland's Department of Justice found that a trial run of the EU's fast-track asylum procedure for asylum seekers who are unlikely to be granted protection works as planned: The new system failed the majority of applicants, as intended, with almost 90 percent being rejected outright.

A similar rate of rejections was also reported to have been issued in cases that lodged appeals during this trial phase.

According to internal briefings seen by The Irish Times daily newspaper, the success of the accelerated method during a trial operation last year was seen as a "significant" improvement on past asylum processing times, and that quicker decisions issued under the fast-track system would lead to a "significant reduction in costs for accommodation and other supports."

Ireland's Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan meanwhile said that while "[m]uch still needs to be done to bring things to scale, … a lot has already been achieved, and indications are very encouraging."

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Many hundreds rejected but only 84 deported so far

The results of the trial operation are based on a total sample size of 2,272 claims for international protection lodged from July 2025 to June 2026. The countries of origin assessed under the new regimen included Georgia, Malawi, Algeria, Bangladesh, South Africa, Egypt, India and the Western Balkans.

In a quarter of the cases that were assessed and rejected under the new system, deportation orders have also since been issued. 

However, only 84 people have so far been removed from Ireland — or have voluntarily left the country, according to the Department of Justice. That number, cited by The Irish Times, has not been independently verified and might be outdated.

In one case, the department said, the period between an asylum application being lodged and a rejection being issued was as little as 47 days.

The speed of the new system has meanwhile been criticized by various rights groups; Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, said that it was designed to rush "people through the protection process with very little time to practically access essential safeguards and legal advice."

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What does the new EU system entail?

EU-wide asylum reforms rolled out last month introduced the new asylum procedure to ensure that the bloc can cope better with its immigration controls, and also to adopt identical asylum procedures across the bloc. 

The new regimen also seeks to make sure that waiting periods are cut down in order to keep spending on asylum seekers likely to be rejected to a minimum.

To achieve these goals, the EU has mandated that asylum seekers from countries deemed to be "safe" will be processed under the fast-track procedure, under which any decision has to be issued within a maximum of 12 weeks.

There is, however, a provision that states that if the processing of a case under the new system were to take longer than 12 weeks, it would have to be converted into a regular asylum procedure and treated accordingly.

For the duration of the fast-track procedure, applicants will face certain "restrictions of freedom of movement" and will be required to report to authorities daily, according to internal Department of Justice documents seen by the Irish Times.

The accelerated procedure further requires EU members to then deport failed applicants within another three months.

The new rules also apply to any applicants who are found to have lodged an earlier asylum request in another EU country.

Will the new system result in lasting change?

The success rate of the new system still has be scrutinized somewhat more closely to truly ascertain how much it might change Europe's asylum landscape. 

The closest comparison it lends itself to at present is the fact that in Ireland, the overall asylum rejection rate stood at 71 percent in 2024 — close to 20 percentage points lower than what was observed during the trial phase; however, that figure is based on all 18,500 asylum applications submitted in Ireland that year, including those that would not qualify for the new, accelerated procedure.

Since 2022, the rate of asylum applications in Ireland had risen considerably, putting stress on the country's ability to provide a sufficient reception to all applicants. However, in 2025 and to date in 2026, the number of applications has been decreasing notably, with a third fewer cases lodged last year than in 2024.

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Ireland rejects idea of return hubs — for now

Despite the success of the accelerated EU process, Ireland seems to want to stick only with new EU guidelines to this extent.

Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Micheal Martin meanwhile has announced that his government had "no immediate plans" to join in on using the proposed EU return hubs for failed asylum seekers — another key policy rolled out last month. 

His reluctance to join is despite the fact that the island nation is struggling with finding adequate housing and accommodation for many of the estimated 33,000 asylum seekers in the country — some of whom hail from countries, which do not have return agreements in place.

Martin specifically said that before Ireland would consider resorting to such measures, "[t]here is some distance yet before that would be defined, in terms of the framework governing return hubs."

He also stressed that Ireland's focus continues to be the overall acceleration of asylum procedures to ensure greater fairness across the system.

At the same time, however, the leader said that his government broadly welcomed the changes in the wider EU Migration and Asylum Pact.

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What are the new EU return hubs?

The European Parliament approved plans last month to allow individual EU member states to send certain failed asylum applicants to so-called "return hubs" which would be set up in third countries outside the EU.

The EU plan merely allows member states to go ahead with establishing such return hubs — either individually or jointly with other member states. However, Brussels would not directly be involved in creating these hubs, and countries who wish not to participate can opt out of the scheme.

Justice Minister 'open-minded' about return hubs

According to the Irish Independent, Martin's current position is opposed to Justice Minister O'Callaghan's reported stance, who had said he had an "open mind" about the prospect of Ireland joining in with other EU member states on the plans.

"I'm not prepared to rule Ireland's participation in them out at this stage and if they operate efficiently and effectively and in compliance with human rights, certainly I will look at them," he told reporters.

"It is important in order to retain public confidence in the asylum system that we are seen to have an effective, firm but fair system," O'Callaghan stressed last week.

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