James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. This is a difficult situation for our Afghan community and their loved ones. I take this opportunity to assure them that we are processing applications under the Afghan admission programme as quickly as possible. It should be noted that the Afghan admission programme is not the only avenue for Afghan nationals to come to Ireland. Since the beginning of August 2021 up to 28 November last, a total of 142 visas had been approved for Afghan nationals to join family members and 104 family reunification applications had also been approved. A significant number of Afghan people have also been allocated places under the Irish refugee protection programme, which comes within the remit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. My Department provides the visas to facilitate their travel to Ireland. Almost 600 visa waiver letters have been issued to date.

The Afghan admission programme is an additional avenue open to the relatively small number of Afghan nationals living here to allow them to bring close family members here to live with them. The Department has received 528 applications to the Afghan admission programme. I am happy to state that approvals have started to issue. As of Friday, 25 November, the Department had issued approvals for 22 people under the programme. No refusal letters have issued to date.

To ensure that as many people as possible can avail of this important programme, my Department has been liaising with representatives of the Afghan community and with applicants directly to ensure we have everything we need to progress their applications. Where applicants are missing important information, such as proof of identity and familial relationships, my Department is contacting people directly to try to gather the required documents. The process of contacting proposers is under way, with over 95% of sponsors contacted to date. The requested information has begun to be received. I would also like to assure the Afghan community that the applications continue to be assessed in a pragmatic and humanitarian manner with a view to issuing more decisions soon.

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