Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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103. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a visa in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26829/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that they recently issued correspondence to the person's legal representative requesting further documentation and information.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or long awaited.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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104. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a visa in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26830/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that correspondence recently issued to the person's legal representative requesting further documentation and information.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or long awaited.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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105. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if the visa application process for persons travelling here from Georgia can be improved so as to enable applications to be expedited and completed in a more efficient manner. [26832/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that visa applications made by persons residing in Georgia are processed by the Irish Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Embassy in Sofia is the accredited Embassy for Georgia as Ireland does not currently have a Diplomatic Mission there. Staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs based in Sofia, as with all other Irish Embassies abroad, have the authority to process some visa applications under delegated sanction from my Department. In circumstances where an application cannot be processed under delegated sanction, it is forwarded to the INIS Visa Office in Dublin for processing.

In general, every effort is made to process visa applications as quickly as possible. However, time-frames for decision can vary having regard to the volume of applications, their complexity and the resources available to process them. In that regard, I am advised that 50% of all applications received from Georgia in 2015 were issued with a decision within one week of receipt by the Embassy, with a total of 80% issued a decision within two weeks.