International Protection Act 2026

• Permanent Page URL

Resignation and removal of Appeals Officers

246. (1) The Chief Appeals Officer may resign from office by notice in writing to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect on the date the Minister receives the notice, or, if a date is specified in the notice and the Government agree to that date, on that date.

(2) An Appeals Officer (other than the Chief Appeals Officer) may resign from office by notice in writing to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect on the date the Minister receives the notice, or, if a date is specified in the notice and the Minister agrees to that date, on that date.

(3) The Chief Appeals Officer may be removed from office by the Government where the Government are satisfied that one or more of the following grounds apply to the Chief Appeals Officer:

(a) he or she has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions;

(b) he or she has engaged in serious misconduct;

(c) in the opinion of the Government, he or she has failed without reasonable cause to perform his or her functions for a continuous period of at least 3 months;

(d) he or she has contravened to a material extent a provision of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001 that, by virtue of a regulation under section 3 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 , applies to him or her.

(4) An Appeals Officer (other than the Chief Appeals Officer) may be removed from office by the Minister where the Minister is satisfied that one or more of the grounds specified in any of the paragraphs of subsection (3) apply to the Appeals Officer.

(5) Where—

(a) the Government propose to remove the Chief Appeals Officer from office under subsection (3), or

(b) the Minister proposes to remove an Appeals Officer from office under subsection (4),

the Minister shall give notice in writing to the Appeals Officer concerned of the proposal.

(6) A notice under subsection (5) shall include a statement—

(a) of the reasons for the proposed removal from office,

(b) that the Appeals Officer concerned may, within a period of 30 working days from the giving of the notice or such longer period as the Minister may, having regard to the requirements of natural justice, specify in the notice, make representations to the Government or the Minister, as the case may be, in such form and manner as may be specified by the Minister, as to why the Appeals Officer should not be removed from office, and

(c) that where no representations are received within the period referred to in paragraph (b) or the period specified in the notice, as the case may be—

(i) the Government shall, without further notice to the Chief Appeals Officer, proceed with the removal from office in accordance with subsection (3), or

(ii) the Minister shall, without further notice to the Appeals Officer, proceed with the removal from office of the Appeals Officer in accordance with subsection (4).

(7) In considering whether to remove the Chief Appeals Officer from office under subsection (3) or an Appeals Officer from office under subsection (4), the Government or the Minister, as the case may be, shall take into account—

(a) any representations made by the Appeals Officer concerned under subsection (6)(b) within the period referred to in that paragraph or the period specified in the notice, as the case may be, and

(b) any other matter the Government consider or the Minister considers, as the case may be, relevant for the purpose of the decision.

(8) Where, having taken into account the matters referred to in subsection (7)—

(a) the Government decide to remove the Chief Appeals Officer from office, or

(b) the Minister decides to remove an Appeals Officer from office,

the Minister shall give notice in writing to the Appeals Officer concerned of the decision and the reasons for that decision.

(9) Where the Government decide to remove a Chief Appeals Officer from office in accordance with this section, they shall prepare a statement of the reason or reasons for such removal and cause that statement to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after the decision is made.

(10) For the purposes of subsection (4), the reference in subsection (3)(c) to the opinion of the Government shall be construed as a reference to the opinion of the Minister.