Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1352. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when her Department will resume accepting applications for short-term visit visas; if her attention has been drawn to the distress the blanket suspension is causing to Irish citizens who live abroad and have a spouse who needs a visa to visit Ireland; her plans to create exemptions to the current restrictions for spouses of Irish citizens; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39743/21]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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It remains the position that my Department is not currently accepting any short stay visa applications, except for cases that fall under the emergency/priority criteria set out below. The suspension of short stay applications will continue to be reviewed in consultation with the relevant authorities in the coming weeks in line with the easing of public health restrictions on international travel and the measures introduced as part of the Government’s efforts to interrupt the transmission of COVID-19.

The priority/emergency cases that will continue to be accepted and processed at this time include the following:

- All long stay employment applications, supported by a work permit or atypical permission;

- patients travelling for imperative medical reasons;

- transport workers or transport service providers, including drivers of freight vehicles carrying goods for use in the territory as well as those merely transiting;

- pupils, students and trainees who travel abroad on a daily basis and third-country nationals travelling for the purpose of 3rd level study;

- Join Family applications;

- Preclearance applications from de facto partner of an Irish national, de facto partner of a Critical Skills Employment Permit holder, or of a non-EEA researcher on a hosting agreement and family members looking to join a UK national in Ireland;

- persons travelling for imperative family* or business reasons;

- Persons entitled to avail of the provision of the EU Free Movement Directive;

- diplomats, staff of international organisations and people invited by international organisations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organisations, military personnel and police officers, and humanitarian aid workers and civil protection personnel in the exercise of their functions;

- passengers in transit;

- seafarers;

- journalists, when performing their duties.