John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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Recent cases concerning delays in the processing of long-term residency permit applications have been brought to my attention. In one case, a girl from my area has been six years resident in Ireland which allows her to apply for a long-term residency permit. When she made her application, she was informed it would take two years to process. It is unacceptable that a person, as in this case, who has given a long-term commitment to the country and has resided in it for the 60 months necessary must then wait a further 24 months before her application is processed. It is unfair and unjust.

If the Government wants to be a little more fair, it could allow applicants to apply after three years of residency in order that the application could be processed in a timely manner. I urge the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the backlog in this area is addressed as soon as possible. I assume it is down to a lack of manpower in the Department to deal with these applications. I hope whatever changes to staffing arrangements are needed will be made.

Those who have made the application legitimately and meet the criteria as laid down by the Department should have their applications for long-term residency permits dealt with in a speedy manner. After asking people to put their lives on hold for five years and be resident in the country in order to be eligible for a residency permit, it is unfair to ask them to do so for a further two years while their applications are being processed. This is disgraceful. It appears to come down to just the matter of resources. While I accept resources are scarce at this time, we are dealing with people's lives, not just the applicants but their friends, loved ones and families. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, inform the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform of the frustrations I, and many people in the process, are experiencing with the administrative backlog?

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who is otherwise occupied.

The current long-term residence scheme operates on an administrative basis. However, one of the most important proposals in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 is the introduction of a new, enhanced and statutory long-term resident status. This status will be available to those who have completed at least five years satisfactory residence in the State and can meet certain conditions. These include the requirement the foreign national be of good character, tax compliant, can demonstrate a reasonable competence in the Irish or English language, has made reasonable efforts to integrate and has been supporting him or herself and any dependants without recourse to publicly-funded services.

The Bill also provides a mechanism for a fast track to long-term residence in certain circumstances. It is intended green card holders will be able to apply for long-term residence after two years, by any standards a very generous approach. Long-term resident status will confer rights that approach those of Irish nationals and bring with it access, for the foreign national and his or her qualifying dependants, to the employment market and State-funded services and benefits. The benefits enjoyed by holders of this status are an acknowledgement that, over time, those who migrate to Ireland contribute increasingly to society and to the economy and have earned this status and the stability it brings.

Long-term residency, as an administrative scheme, was introduced in May 2004. It is focused on persons who have been legally resident in the State for more than five years on the basis of work permit, work authorisation or work visa conditions. Such persons may apply to the immigration division of the Department for a five-year residency extension. In that context they may also apply to be exempt from employment permit requirements. The dependants of the aforementioned, who have been legally resident in the State for more than five years, may also apply for long-term residency. However, this long-term permission does not grant an exemption from employment permit requirements to any such dependants. Time spent in the State on student conditions cannot be counted towards long-term residency.

While applications for long-term residency are under consideration, the person concerned should ensure his or her permission to remain in the State is kept up to date. During processing, each application is examined to verify the applicant meets the residency criteria. Should an applicant meet this criteria, a character reference check is then carried out with the Garda Síochána to ascertain if the applicant can be deemed to be of good character. There also may be circumstances in individual cases which require a greater level of investigation than other cases.

The applications received by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service are diverse in nature. Processing times vary considerably according to the nature and circumstances of the scheme in question. In all instances, processing arrangements are kept under ongoing review and steps are taken to reduce waiting times where this is feasible, having regard to available resources and overall priorities. I understand the Department is currently processing applications received in January 2007. This is primarily due to the significant increase in the volume of applications received in recent years.

INIS has allocated some additional resources to the processing of applications for long-term residency and, having regard to the many demands on the service, will keep the resource allocation under review. INIS has taken this step with a view to providing an improved customer service to applicants for long-term residency and, incrementally, an improvement in processing times. I am advised that there are no plans to offer an amnesty to existing applicants for long-term residency.

I understand from cases in my own constituency that there are delays such as this. Yet the number of staff in the Department has probably increased significantly in recent years. Many of them are working on asylum-related cases and perhaps when one section is less busy than another some people might be moved across. Some applicants might end up not qualifying because their initial years here were as students or they did not have qualifying years here. It can be frustrating. It is not a simple process; there is a lot of paperwork involved and it takes time and resources. I presume the Deputy has raised the particular case with the Department directly.

John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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The specific case, yes. I thank the Minister of State for his response, which does not contain much by way of good news for me. In the specific instance to which I refer the person has waited for more than five years and is now being told the application will take at least two more years to process, which is unacceptable in this day and age. That is why I raised the issue on the Adjournment. I note the Minister's last sentence. I raised the idea of an amnesty for people in the system who meet the criteria. It is my understanding that the previous Minister was actively considering the idea of an amnesty for people who qualified. Obviously it would not work across the board but there could be an amnesty for people who met the criteria. The current Minister seems to have rejected the notion of an amnesty, based on what the Minister of State has said here. I would appreciate if the Minister of State would bring my concerns to the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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There might be some argument there about what is an amnesty.

John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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I know.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Senator stated that the previous Minister said he might provide an amnesty for people who qualified.

John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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It was being considered at least.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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However, by the time one has established that an applicant is qualified one probably has done 99% of the work. It might be just a play on words.