Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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40. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the Afghan admissions programme; the expected timeline for when all decisions will be issued; the analysis that her Department has carried out into expanding the programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35901/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In response to the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, I opened the special Afghan Admission Programme for applications on 16 December 2021. The Programme closed on 11 March 2022.

This Programme enabled current or former Afghan nationals living legally in Ireland to apply to have their close family members, who are living in Afghanistan or who have recently fled to eligible territories bordering Afghanistan, to apply for temporary residence in Ireland.

My Department has received 528 applications under the Programme and my officials are currently processing all applications with a view to issuing decisions in the coming months.

It is also important to note that all current immigration avenues remain open for new applications, including visa and family reunification applications. The Afghan Admission Programme is additional to the current suite of immigration schemes and should not be viewed in isolation.

Many people have already availed 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 as well as 77 family reunification applications.

Further details in relation to the other avenues available and how to apply can be found on my Department's immigration website (www.irishimmigration.ie).