Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 388: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the length of time it takes to process a long term residence application; the reason for the amount of time it takes to process such an application; his plans to reduce this processing time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5406/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Long term residency is an administrative scheme that was introduced in May 2004 and is focused on persons who have been legally resident in the State for over five years on the basis of work permit / work authorisation / work visa conditions. Such persons may apply to the Immigration Division of my 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 over five years may also apply for long term residency. This particular 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 that their permission to remain in the State is kept up to date.

In addition to long term residency, the staff in General Immigration Division process a wide variety of applications from non-EEA nationals seeking to reside in the State on various grounds. Applications for long term residency received in July 2006 are currently being dealt with. There has been a continuous increase in the number of applications being received since the introduction of the long term residency scheme in May 2004. However, the Deputy will appreciate that these applications are dealt with in the context of the overall workload facing the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service at any given time. The administrative scheme for long term residency will be established on a statutory basis in accordance with the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill.