Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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149. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of a case (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50401/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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A response was issued by my Department to this correspondence on the 28 March 2022.

This correspondence explained that the Afghan Admission Programme which was designed as a specific response to the evolving situation in Afghanistan closed for applications on the 11 March 2022. The applications continue to be assessed in a pragmatic and humanitarian manner with a view to issuing decisions soon. In addition, since the beginning of August 2021 to 26 September 2022, a total of 140 join family visas have been approved for Afghan nationals and 77 family reunification applications have been approved.

A significant number of Afghan people have also been allocated places under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), which is under the remit of the Department of Children, Equality. Disability, Integration and Youth. My Department provides the visas to facilitate their travel to Ireland and almost 600 visa waiver letters have been issued to date. Priority has been given to those working on human rights issues, including the rights of women and girls, as well as those working with NGOs and European and international organisations.

Having made enquiries with the immigration service of my Department I am advised that, based on the information supplied, it has unfortunately not been possible to locate any immigration application for the person referred to. The number provided by the Deputy is a correspondence number and not an immigration application number. If more information can be provided in this regard I would be happy to ask my officials to re-examine the request.