Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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100. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the fact that there is at present an eight week delay for an appointment at Burgh Quay under the new INIS registration system and that there is no provision to request an emergency appointment; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that as a consequence, many persons are finding themselves unable to take up work or re-entry visas as they cannot get a stamp in their passport; the steps she will take to address this backlog; and if, in the interim, she will allow Dublin-based migrants to register outside Dublin, where far earlier appointments are available. [33590/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Last September an on-line appointment booking system for registration appointments was introduced at the Burgh Quay Offices. The aim of the booking system is to give certainty to applicants that they will be dealt with on a particular date and within a stated time period. The introduction of the appointment booking system has been a major success and has meant that the long queues that have been associated with the Office are now a thing of the past. This has resulted in a significant improvement in the customer experience. Since its introduction, over 20,000 appointments have been booked on the appointment system.

As this is the busiest time of the year for the registration office additional staff on overtime have been engaged and the Office is also open on most Saturdays in the autumn. This is in addition to the normal office hours of 8 am - 9 pm Monday to Thursday and 6pm on Fridays. The capacity of the Office to accommodate appointments is monitored on a daily basis, taking into account staffing levels, the type of appointments sought and the general number of appointment cancellations. Where additional capacity is identified further appointments are released.

The Burgh Quay registration office has facilitated appointments in certain emergency situations, since the introduction of the appointment booking system, and continues to do so. Applicants are advised to email the following address in such cases. The relevant NGOs and third level institutions have been briefed by INIS regarding this procedure.

The Burgh Quay Office also operates an on-line appointment service for Re-entry visas. However, there is no reason for the applicants to present in person for this service as there is also a postal service in place which customers are encouraged to use in the first instance.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the nature of the service provided is such that it is demand led and accordingly, there are peaks in the numbers of callers to the Office at different times of the year. For example, there is a marked increased in demand for registrations during the autumn period primarily due to the surge in demand from third level students at that time of year. Similarly, there are peaks for re-entry visas at the start of the summer and in advance of the Christmas / New Year holiday period. Additional resources are assigned during these periods.

In accordance with section 9 of the 2004 Immigration Act an applicant is required to register within the registration district in which he or she is resident. For the Dublin Metropolitan Region registration must take place at the Burgh Quay Office.

If the Deputy has any particular cases in mind, could I suggest that he utilise the Oireachtas mail service which is established for this purpose.