Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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55. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff by grade in her Department allocated to process applications for residence cards under the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29021/16]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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56. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff by grade in her Department that are assigned to process applications in respect of Irish nationalisation and immigration applications; the number of staff allocated to each individual office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29022/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 56 together.

I am advised that, at the end of September 2016, the overall staff allocation to Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) was 687 (649 full time equivalent). Staff are deployed across a wide range of activities including the broad areas of asylum and immigration processing, visa processing, border management and policy areas of the organisation. In that context, the management of resources is kept under constant review having regard to business and operational requirements, and staff are deployed accordingly.

The Deputy will appreciate that, given the nature of the work involved and the need to allow for flexibility in the assignment and prioritisation of tasks at peak times for the service, it has not been possible to isolate the number of staff assigned solely to processing activities, or specifically to the processing of individual application types such as residence cards under the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015. The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the staff by grade in each office is set out in the table. It should be noted that the numbers specified in the tables for Clerical Officers (CO) includes staff recruited as Temporary Clerical Officers. These staff are employed on a fixed term contract basis to cover temporary vacancies and short term staffing needs.