John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 954: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason a visa application in the name of a person (details supplied) was refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24799/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The visa application in question was refused by my Department at initial stage on 23 August on two separate grounds.

First, the visa officer was not satisfied on the basis of the documentation supplied in support of the application that sufficient finances were available to guarantee the support of the applicant while in the State without requiring recourse to public funds.

Second, the applicant had visited Ireland during 2003 and overstayed on the visit, thereby failing to comply with the conditions of the visa.

An appeal in respect of the decision to refuse the visa application was subsequently submitted by the applicant and received in my Department on 19 September. To guarantee the provision of a fair and consistent service to all our customers, appeals are dealt with strictly in date-received order and take, on average, three to four weeks to process. The applicant can expect a decision within that timeframe.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 955: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if approval of a visa application will be expedited in the name of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24800/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The visa application in question was received in my Department on 2 September 2005. Applications are dealt with strictly in the order of date received.

As we have an obligation to provide the best possible service to all our customers and to deal objectively with all applications received in a fair and transparent manner, applications are not, as a rule, given priority over earlier applications in the queue. In exceptional circumstances, prioritisation of one or more applications may be warranted. However, it does not appear that any such circumstances exist in this case.

As processing times for visa applications are, on average, between four and six weeks, the applicant can expect a decision in this case in the near future.