Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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5. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who have arrived in Ireland to date under the Afghan admissions programme; her plans to ensure that all 500 places will be filled on the programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60481/22]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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My question is very direct. Will the Minister clarify the number of persons who have arrived in Ireland to date under the Afghan admissions programme and her plans to ensure that all promised 500 places will be filled given that as late as 22 November 2022 not a single approval had been given?

It has changed slightly since then. Up to 22 November, no decisions had issued, notwithstanding the fact that the programme will have been in existence for a year on 16 December next.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for the background, but I already have the background. I am specifically asking about this scheme because it was in addition to the other schemes that were already in existence. The uptake relating to those schemes was extremely low. This specific scheme was introduced after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. I have 40 seconds to speak. I am not going to go into what has been done in Afghanistan by the Taliban in respect of women and children, the lack of education and violence and killings. This scheme was a specific response by our country to say that we will take in up to 500, but we have not taken in a single person. Between 22 November and 25 November, we finally approved 22 applications. Have any of the people to whom they relate arrived in Ireland? Am I wrong to say that not a single person or family has arrived in Ireland under this scheme that will be a year old on 16 December, despite our commitment to do something in response to what happened in Afghanistan?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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By my maths, 846 Afghans have been approved through the other schemes and, as I said, where they can be used, they are being used to help Afghans. In the context of this particular scheme, there have been 528 applications and 22 applications have been approved. There has been a challenge in terms of the information being provided within those various applications, which has proven to be challenging. Our Department is working actively with the Afghan community and with each and every one of those applicants. In circumstances where important and relevant documentation is missing, we are trying to get it in order that applications can be processed as quickly as possible. As already stated, it is not the only way in which Afghans can come to Ireland and some 846 have come through the other processes. We are working through these as quickly as possible. However, we need the relevant documentation to be able to do the relevant checks relating to the scheme.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Let us look at the 846. They have been approved under the other schemes, but the Minister of State has no information on whether they arrived in Ireland. Obviously, we thought another scheme was necessary in response to what happened in August 2021. Given our horror at what was happening in the streets, cities and towns of Afghanistan, and the fact that things were going backwards for women and children, we brought in a new scheme. A year later, absolutely nobody has been brought in under that scheme. Suddenly, within three days, we have progress and there have been 22 approvals. However, it is still the case that nothing has happened on the ground. We have welcomed what the Government has done with regard to refugees from Ukraine, but we cannot make distinctions in terms of the way we are doing it. The Ombudsman has issued a report today on how we treat children from different countries. This is one opportunity to show that we are making it work. Can the Minister of State please explain why there has been such a delay?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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On the applications, there has been a challenge in terms of the information that has been provided. We have to examine the information that is provided, and that is part of any process of issuing visas or any type of programme for admission to the country. We do not bring any people to the country under the scheme; we simply issue permissions for people to come here. As already stated, the Department is not simply standing back. It is working proactively with the Afghan community in respect of each of those applications to see how we can get the information required. The State has a process it has to go through before it can issue permissions to people to allow them to come into the country. The integrity of the systems in that regard has to be maintained.