Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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557. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the fact that those renewing their residence permit are only allowed to apply one month prior to the expiration date of their permit, even though the current waiting time suggested by her Department for a new permit to be approved is nine to ten weeks plus two to three weeks issue and delivery, totalling up to 13 weeks; the action that she will take to expedite these applications; and if she will consider allowing people to apply further in advance of their permit expiry date. [26477/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department's Registration Office in Burgh Quay is responsible for registering immigration permissions for customers residing in the Dublin area only. Registrations outside of the Dublin area are processed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) through the Garda Station network. The allocation of appointments with GNIB is a matter for An Garda Síochána.

If a person is residing in the Dublin area and has an existing valid permission to be in the State, then they do not need to seek an in-person appointment to renew their permission. Since 20 July 2020 all renewals for the Dublin area are being processed online at: . Anyone renewing their permission with a new passport can also now upload their passport bio data page online.

The requirement to wait until the final four weeks before renewing the permission has been amended. Customers may now apply to renew their permission up to 12 weeks in advance of the permission expiring.

On 17 December 2021, I announced a further temporary extension of immigration and international protection permissions to 31 May 2022. This extension applies to permissions that were due to expire between 15 January 2022 and 31 May 2022, and includes permissions that have already been extended by the previous temporary extensions since March 2020.

This extension provided the necessary time to make arrangements with my Department in Dublin or An Garda Síochána outside Dublin to ensure that registrations were renewed in the normal way by that date. People were encouraged to do so at the earliest opportunity and not to wait until May when demand was expected to be significantly higher.

In an emergency situation, customers can contact the Immigration Service Helpdesk at: immigrationsupport@justice.ie, who will endeavour to assist them.

My Department has also provided an online notice for employers confirming that non-EEA nationals may continue to work once they could provide documentary evidence of their ongoing application to renew their immigration permission. The notice can be viewed on my Department's immigration website at: www.irishimmigration.ie/notice-for-employers-may-2022/.