Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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249. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the upset and distress that persons who have been in Ireland for over five years in the international protection system that received their final decision in 2019 and 2020 will not be included in the undocumented scheme; if she will reconsider their exclusion and make the scheme truly inclusive by widening the parameters in order that they and other cohorts can be included; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8837/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I was pleased to open the landmark Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme for applications on 31 January. Applications will be accepted for six months until 31 July, when the scheme will close.  The scheme includes a parallel strand, which opened for applications on 7 February 2022, to implement the recommendation included in the report of the Expert Advisory Group, allowing international protection applicants who have an outstanding application for international protection and have been in the asylum process for a minimum of two years to apply.  

This once-in-a-generation scheme is designed to give long-term undocumented people without a current permission to remain in the State, the chance to regularise their status, access the labour market and begin their path to citizenship.  As the Deputy will be aware, it has been widely welcomed by those who have long campaigned for this right. 

As I have outlined, the criteria for the international protection strand of the scheme have been designed in line with the recommendation made in the Report of the Catherine Day Expert Advisory Group. Any applicant considering making an application to this scheme must be a current international protection applicant. My Department has recently written to approximately 4,000 potentially eligible applicants inviting them to apply under the scheme. 

Anyone who has already been issued with a decision letter from the Ministerial Decisions Unit of my Department, or who has previously withdrawn their application, is no longer an international protection applicant and therefore will not be eligible for this scheme.

Further information regarding the qualifying criteria, the required documentation, and how to apply for the international protection strand of the scheme are available on the website of the International Protection Office (IPO) of my Department at: www.ipo.gov.ie/en/ipo/pages/whatsnew.