Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I tabled a question to the Minister before Christmas regarding the delay in getting appointments. In reply, he stated that a new online system was being considered and would be developed over the coming year or so, that there would be additional staff and that offices would open on Saturdays and Sundays. Could those measures be implemented in the visa application process? It is only when contacted by people with particular difficulties that one becomes aware of the system. A case of which I am aware involved a person who applied three months before the deadline because a family issue required him to return to his country of origin. However, the decision on his visa was made almost at the last minute. Another person who had an offer of good employment and did not want to go into the black economy was trying to get his visa expedited as quickly as possible to take up that offer of employment because he wanted to be in genuine employment in which he would pay his taxes. Cases such as that bring home the inordinate delays experienced by some people and the need for a quicker response.

See this speech in context