David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Senator for raising this important matter. The Minister greatly values and appreciates the contribution of so many people from abroad who come to Ireland to work in our healthcare system and in all sectors of the economy generally.This of itself is a measure of the success the Government has had in managing our economy and putting it right, to the point where Ireland is now an attractive location for persons willing to come to work here. I agree fully this can only benefit our healthcare system and will add to it.

I have listened to what the Senator has had to say and I hope I have addressed his concerns as far as I can. I assure him that INIS, through its visa offices in Dublin and abroad, will continue to apply as many resources as possible to ensure applications for joint family visas to enter Ireland are dealt with as expeditiously as possible. On behalf of the Minister I assure the House it is not the intention of the family reunification policy to keep families apart, rather that resources are maximised so visa applications for family reunification are processed as quickly as possible, thus ensuring families are reunited without undue delay. The Senator can be reassured that every effort is being made to keep processing times to a minimum and a number of measures have been put in place generally to deal with the current caseload. This includes assigning additional staff to help process applications and, more generally, the streamlining of visa processing where possible. In any event, I am sure the Minister will ask INIS to continue to keep the position under review and do what it can to process such applications as quickly as possible. Each application is dealt with individually on a case by case basis.