James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for tabling this very important question respect of the regularisation of the long-term undocumented migrants scheme.

I am pleased to be able to advise the Deputy that 76% of all applications under this extremely successful and impactful scheme have been processed since it opened in the past year, with 89% of all decisions to date being positive ones. As the Deputy is aware, this once-in-a-generation scheme was designed to give long-term undocumented residents the opportunity to regularise their status, access the labour market legally and begin their path to citizenship. It has provided an opportunity for those who meet its criteria to remain and reside in the State and to become part of mainstream Irish society rather than living on its margins.

To flesh out the details, I can further advise that, in total, 6,548 applications were submitted in respect of 8,311 people under the scheme. Of these, 5,654, or 86%, were single applications and 894, 14%, were family applications. As of 11 April last, 4,302 applications have been granted, 592 applications have been refused, and 93 applications have been withdrawn by the applicants for various reasons. These applications relate to 6,386 people. Some 5,589 of them were granted, 685 were refused and 112 were withdrawn. The remaining applications relate, in the main, to more complex cases. It is not possible to provide a definitive timeframe for when all cases will be finalised, although every effort is being made to do so without undue delay. Each application received is assessed individually in accordance with the published criteria available on the Department's immigration website.

While every effort is made to process applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the complexity of applications, whether it is a single or family application, the supporting documentation, the vetting process with An Garda Síochána, the possible need for the immigration service delivery function of the Department to seek further information and the resources available.

Where an application is refused, it is open to the applicant to appeal the decision within 30 working days. The decision letter contains information on how to submit an appeal, with further information available on the immigration service website. The appeal will be considered by a different officer to the person who determined the original application to be unsuccessful. There is no additional fee to appeal a decision.

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