Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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439. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications received from foreign students pursuant to the Luximon judgment; and the number that have been processed to date. [12867/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the primary consideration is to process applications affected by the Luximon and Balchand judgments of the Supreme Court in compliance with legal requirements.

The Deputy may be aware that following those judgments, I launched a new scheme on 15 October 2018 which allows certain non-EEA nationals, who came to Ireland to study between January 2005 and December 2010, to apply for permission to remain in the State.

The Scheme closed to new applications on 20 January, 2019 and INIS received approximately 3,100 applications comprising former students and their family members. To date, INIS has made a decision in respect of 705 cases.

I am further informed that INIS has taken a number of measures to address the cohort of complex cases associated with the judgments including the assignment of additional staff resources and the sanction of overtime. I am also advised that the resources available for processing these applications, and the accompanying operational and organisational structures, are kept under ongoing review to ensure they are deployed as efficiently as possible.