Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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131. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will report on the recruitment of immigration officers for the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service for Dublin Airport; the number of officers to be recruited; when she expects the recruitment process to be completed; and when she expects newly recruited staff to commence employment. [39985/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The process to civilianise border control functions at Dublin airport and the transfer of these responsibilities from An Garda Síochána to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department is well underway. The first phase of the project was completed at the end of June 2015, with civilian staff of INIS operating all passport controls in Terminal 1 on a 24/7 basis.

In order to ensure that my Department can sustain the staffing levels required to undertake immigration control functions and to move to a 24/7 civilian operation in Terminal 2 a recruitment competition for Immigration Control Officers has recently been completed by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). Arrangements for the first appointments from this panel are at an advanced stage with initial appointments expected to be made in Quarter 1 of 2017.

The deployment of civilian staff to carry out border functions at Dublin Airport is proving successful and I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to the continuing civilianisation of these functions at Dublin airport.