Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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578. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the avenues available to Afghan refugees who wish to have their family members join them from Afghanistan in Ireland in view that in the direct provision system they do not qualify for a programme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16456/22]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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579. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if consideration will be given to extending a programme (details supplied) to allow Afghan refugees in direct provision to apply; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16457/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 578 and 579 together.

In response to the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, I opened the special Afghan Admission Programme for applications on 16 December 2021. The Programme closed for applications on 11 March 2022.

The Programme enabled current or former Afghan nationals living legally in Ireland to apply to have certain close family members come to live with them in Ireland. There is no prohibition on a resettled refugee making an application under the Programme, as long as they can meet the requirement of providing accommodation and supports for their family member(s). If they are still living in accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth they will unfortunately not meet this requirement.

As the Deputy will appreciate, no immigration programme can be unlimited in scope, therefore, in line with policy considerations, certain conditions must apply. The Programme has been developed to allow as many families as possible the opportunity to have some family members join them here in Ireland.

The Afghan Admission Programme is additional to the current suite of immigration schemes and should not be viewed in isolation. Many people are already availing of these other avenues, and will continue to do so. Since the beginning of August 2021, a total of 133 join family visas have been approved for Afghan nationals and 64 family reunification applications.