Ireland refused a lower proportion of asylum applications than any other EU country last year.

Only 15 per cent of first-time asylum applications were rejected. The EU average stands at 63 per cent.

Some 1,275 asylum seekers were granted protection in the Republic last year. Another 340 people, most of whom were Syrians, were given refugee status in a resettlement programme.

The proportion of asylum seekers granted protection in Ireland last year stood at about 265 per million population — less than half the EU average of 650 per million. Austria, Sweden and Germany had the highest proportion relative to population. Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Estonia had the lowest.

About 333,400 asylum seekers were granted protection last year across the EU’s 28