John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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346. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of a visa application by a person (details supplied); and the reason for the delay with same. [8537/20]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that the COVID–19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the way the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) of my Department conducts its business at this time.

Since 20 March, my Department has temporarily ceased accepting new visa applications. However, we continue to accept and to process certain priority or emergency cases, including: 

-emergency visas (for healthcare professionals, health researchers, and elderly care professionals, for example);

- immediate family members of Irish citizens, who are returning to their normal place of residence in Ireland;

- persons legally resident in the State; and

- persons entitled to avail of the provision of the EU Free Movement Directive.

In this way, visas for frontline healthcare professionals and other urgent applications are receiving priority attention.  A family member of a Critical Skills Employment Permit holder does not fall within the categories set out above.

The central concern in deciding on visa applications remains, as with all visa services worldwide, in trying to strike an appropriate balance between protecting the country's vital national interests by maintaining an effective immigration regime while at the same time facilitating travel for those essential workers who meet the criteria.  Each visa application is therefore decided on its own merits taking all factors into account.

I can also inform the Deputy that visa applications are generally processed in chronological order from the date received by the processing centre.  I am advised that the application in question was received in the Dublin Visa Office on 5 February 2020.  At the time of the announcement on the 20 March, applications of this type received in the Dublin Visa Office before 9 December 2019 were being processed.

Unfortunately, the ability of the Immigration Service Delivery function of my Department to process visa applications, such as the one being referred to here, has been severely curtailed as a result of travel and social distancing restrictions both here and in the applicant's home country. However, my Department intends to resume accepting and processing all visa applications again as soon as safety concerns abate.

The Immigration Service has provided a Frequently Asked Questions document on the impact of COVID-19 on immigration and international protection on its website (www.inis.gov.ie). This document is regularly updated.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department 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 is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.