Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

In regard to the visa issue generally, 91% of visa applications are accepted and a small number are not. Some people run into difficulties with their visa applications because they do not fill out the forms correctly or provide the necessary back-up documentation. I saw this in my constituency prior to becoming Minister, when people would tell me they had difficulties getting visas but the copies they showed me of the documentation sent into the Department clearly displayed deficiencies. That is why they run into problems. There is the odd occasion where the incorrect decision is made in the context of complex background circumstances and when that occurs there is always the possibility of reviewing the decision.

The citizenship ceremonies have been an enormous success. A number of the people accompanying those being granted citizenship, whose own experience involved attending criminal sittings of the District Court while waiting to be fitted in for a couple of minutes to swear fidelity to the State in the witness box, have asked me if they could have a second ceremony because their first ceremony was not really a ceremony at all and the experience was dreadful. It has given a clear message that we truly value those who have chosen to come and live in this country, are contributing to their communities and are either job creators or in employment here. We have changed the atmosphere in this area. Many of the people I have talked to at citizenship ceremonies are innovators, employers or job creators.

To return to something Senator Bacik said, an important element of the scheme is that an individual can come with his wife and children. The difficulty we have is deciding to what extent one agrees to extended family members coming here. There have been circumstances where people are lawfully here and need a grandparent to come to visit for a period or help them where a baby is born and there are other young children in the family. At present, my Department tries to accommodate people in those circumstances.

I am conscious that I am running out of time. To respond to Senator Harte, the innovative nature of this scheme is that there are a broad range of areas in which one can either invest or in respect of which, to use the terminology, one can make an endowment which is credible. We included the sporting area and if the Senator can find someone who is willing to provide €500,000 to Finn Harps by way of an ex gratia payment, I wish him well in that regard. Provided the origins of the funding are readily identifiable and legitimate and the individual in question does not have a criminal record, we will very happily give him or her a right of residence in the State and he or she may choose to live adjacent to the Senator if he can provide the appropriate accommodation.