Dozens of asylum appeals delayed over interpretation issues

Ottoline Spearman

Interpretation problems were responsible for 65 asylum appeal hearings being delayed this year.

Figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests show that 42 hearings in the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) were postponed in 2025 due to the interpreter failing to show up, and 20 because the interpreter was unavailable. Two were postponed because the interpreter was late.

Of the total of 991 postponements in the tribunal as of December 5th, delays due to interpreter issues constituted 6.6 per cent.

As of December 5th, a total of 3,757 hearings have been scheduled.

IPAT hears appeals from asylum seekers, also known as international protection applicants, whose cases have been rejected by the International Protection Office. All asylum seekers have a right to interpretation if they require it - but the figures show that the interpretation services may not be adequately serving applicants in need.

Mary Phelan of the Association of Translators and Interpreters Ireland (ATII) does not believe that the current system for providing interpreters in the IPAT is fit for purpose.

"Interpreters are recruited purely based on knowledge of English. The ability to speak English is no guarantee of competent interpreting," she said.

"Interpreters need notetaking skills, they need to understand their ethical responsibilities, and they need to be able to provide competent interpreting.

According to Ms Phelan, the procurement process assumes that interpreters are native speakers of a language other than English, meaning there is no requirement for translation companies to assess the level of a second or third language.

For English, however, a certain threshold is required. For the top 10 languages, including French, Spanish, and Arabic, interpreters must have the second-highest level of English proficiency (C1).

However, interpreters for other languages only need to have a B2 level of English, which is one level down.

Ms Phelan added that other problems in the system compound the issues, including lack of adequate remuneration, and the fact that IPAT does not record cases, so there is no way to check if the interpretation was accurate.

The lack of recording also means that interpreters cannot learn from other cases beforehand - although Ms Phelan said that this is set to be introduced in 2026.

With Ireland lacking a training course for IPAT interpreters, as well as a test to assess competence, Ms Phelan says that the "problem can't be solved overnight".

The figures also show that Georgian is by far the most common language cited as problematic in the records, making up 18 per cent of failed interpretation requests. Yoruba follows at 11 per cent; while Setswana and Somali each account for approximately 6 per cent.

Ms Phelan said she was not surprised to hear this. Within ATII, she said that they only had an interpreter for Georgian, with no one for the other three languages.

"Interpreter provision is particularly complex in international protection due to the diversity of the languages needed," she said. "The languages needed can change overnight due to war or a change of regime in another country."

In 2024, 52 hearings were postponed due to interpreter issues, which constitutes 4.5 per cent of hearings postponed.

That year, IPAT spent over €162,000 on interpretation and translation, which is a 132 per cent increase from the previous year.

In 2023, 5 per cent (45) of all postponed hearings were delayed due to interpreter issues, with around €70,000 spent on translation and interpretation.

The amount spent in 2025 is not yet available.

Lingua Translation Services and Translit provide interpretation services to the tribunal, according to an IPAT spokesperson.

Lingua Translation Services said: "During the course of this period, we have no record of our interpreters being late or unavailable for any pre-arranged bookings for hearings. Please note most bookings are received at very last minute when the IPAT main providers fail to provide.

"Our interpreters are educated native speakers and are proficient in English as a second language and they are selected according to their field of expertise.

"Once every two years our interpreters are encouraged to participate in continued professional development.

"Lingua’s hourly rate is in line with the industry’s market value."

Translit did not respond to a request for comment.

Ms Phelan wants to see a number of changes for interpreters working in international protection - including interpreters' knowledge of other languages, and the recording and checking of interviews.

She also said that counselling should be made available to interpreters who may be traumatised by the information they have to interpret, and that interpreters should be given breaks instead of having to interpret for two or three hours nonstop.

The Department for Justice said: "The Department recognises the importance of high-quality interpretation and translation to the international protection process.

"The IPAT works with all service providers to ensure the number of postponements are minimised with all postponed cases rescheduled for another date as soon as possible."