Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 236: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made to improve the process of visa applications in his area of responsibility; the progress with the new AVATS system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10597/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for visa applications to our Missions abroad. Visa applications made in Ireland are the responsibility of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Visa applications received abroad, which are not subject to delegated sanction, are subsequently referred to Dublin for approval or otherwise by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

All of our Missions abroad are committed to reducing the response times for visa applications. In recent years, dedicated visa officers have been assigned to our Embassies in Moscow, Beijing, New Delhi, and London to facilitate the processing of applications speedily. The Delegated Sanction authority to Missions has been extended and has greatly helped to reduce response times.

Further improvements, including a new Visa IT system, AVATS, are currently at an advanced stage of planning. The AVATS system will facilitate the detailed tracking of an individual application from its receipt to its completion. The user testing of this system is scheduled to commence in the coming weeks, and the projected completion date and roll-out for AVATS is expected to be June 2007. Primary responsibility for AVATS rests with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.