No, you're not, Mr. Karygiannis.
I've addressed this many times. When our government came into office, we inherited a backlog of 20,000 cases. The average size of the backlog in the past decade is 40,000 cases. Since we came into office, between 2006 and 2009 there was more than a 70% increase in the number of asylum claims—you've just gone through those—from 22,000 to 36,000 cases by 2008. So a large portion of the backlog is attributable to the increase in the number of claims above and beyond the fully funded and staffed capacity of the IRB to finalize 25,000 claims a year.
You are right in one respect. There was a short-term—about an 18-month—shortfall in IRB decision-makers as a result of the transition to the current, more rigorous pre-screening process for GIC appointees to the RPD, which left a shortfall in decision-makers.
Since I became minister, I have either appointed or re-appointed 101 members to the IRB, all of whom have gone through the rigorous pre-screening process. I can tell you that these are people who have met a very high standard. Over 90% of the applicants through the pre-screening process are screened out and are not even recommended to me.