Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I take it that Deputy Naughten's question refers to the processing of immigration and residence applications in so far as permission to remain in the State is concerned. There is a broad mix of applications for permission to remain in the State that range from student conditions, work permit conditions, visitor conditions, dependant family members, marriage to an Irish national, EU treaty rights deriving from a spouse from another EU member state, and family reunification for family members of refugees to several other categories. Furthermore, the international nature of immigration, has meant that there is now a wider and more complex range of issues associated with applications for permission to remain in the State, all of which require detailed and careful consideration. Preserving the integrity of the State's immigration, security and social-economic systems, together with maximising customer responsiveness, are at the core of these considerations.

Immigration and residency applications are managed under a variety of administrative and statutory schemes, including several EU, UN and other international directives. These schemes are significant both in terms of the process itself and the number of applications received. Due to the high volume of applications received and the fact that each application has to be considered individually, it has been necessary to assign significant additional resources to the general immigration area in recent years.

The number of immigrants coming to the country over the past decade and wanting to stay here is a reflection of the strength and buoyancy of the Irish economy, and an acknowledgement of the contribution that immigrants have made, and want to continue to make, to Irish society. An indication of the scale of applications can be gathered from the fact that in 2004 a total of 2,235 applications were received from individuals seeking permission to remain or change their residence status.

By 2006, this figure had increased to 8,925 applications which represents a 400% increase in only two years. Likewise, applications under the EU directive on the free movement of persons increased from 355 applications in 2004 to 1,462 applications in 2006. This represents a 411% increase in two years. In addition, 17,920 applications for leave to remain under the Irish born child 2005 scheme were received of which 16,983 were granted. The renewal scheme commenced in February and 11,167 applications had been received by the end of August of which 9,701 were given renewal of leave to remain. Deputies will recall progression was a condition of this scheme.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The level of work across the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service is kept under constant review and staff are redeployed regularly to meet these demands. In doing this, it is important to state that the service has finite staff resources and a delicate balance must be struck between the various services which must be supported and the requirement to meet public and customer expectations, including Government priorities at any given time.

In addition to dealing with the various types of immigration and residence applications, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service operates four helplines for applicants for visas, citizenship, residency status and related immigration matters. These helplines have proved to be very worthwhile with large numbers of callers availing of them.

The Immigration Residence and Protection Bill 2007, published in April 2007, is being reviewed with a view to re-publication shortly. This Bill, when enacted, will streamline our immigration system to the benefit of applicant and practitioner alike. It will provide for more rapid processing in certain areas. The new legislation will pull together a wide body of immigration legislation and also for the first time will provide a legal status of long-term resident with rights equivalent to those of Irish citizens. In addition, the legislation will place the visa process on a statutory footing for the first time.

The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service will implement new technology platforms, including new visa, fingerprinting and case management systems, replacing some 20 disparate systems. These new systems will deliver better customer service and enable speedier decision-making in respect of applications across the service. The introduction of such systems will provide an end-to-end view of a client in the immigration service and link into IT systems in other Departments. The systems will further strengthen the capability of the State to deal with fraudulent claimants by providing enhanced identity verification capability. Significant savings have been made to the Exchequer in recent years by such enhanced co-operation between the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Social and Family Affairs.

I have given a snap-shot of the level of business conducted in the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in so far as immigration and residence applications are concerned. I am sure the Deputy will agree that the statistics I referred to are significant and demonstrate the shifting pattern of inward migration dealt with by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. I am confident that all the necessary steps are being taken by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service to manage the significant level of business it receives across the entire range of services within its remit. I am also satisfied that the resources available to the service are deployed to optimum benefit and that this is proactively kept under review having regard to work flows and service demands.

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