Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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26. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 590 of 11 October 2022, the reason for the delay in approving applications under the Afghan admissions programme, which was announced in September 2021, but under which no applications have been approved to date; the analysis that her Department has carried out into the eligibility criteria for the programme; if they are operating as intended; the timeline for when decisions on applications will be issued; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52189/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In response to the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, my Department remains focused on processing applications for family reunification made under all admission avenues, including the Afghan Admissions Programme for family members of Afghan nationals living in Ireland. The Afghan Admissions Programme is an additional avenue open to Afghan nationals to bring close family members to live here with them. There are a number of other options already in place through existing immigration programmes that have been availed of by members of the Afghan community in Ireland and we continue to also process these applications sympathetically.

I can inform the Deputy that my Department has received 528 applications to the Afghan Admission Programme. Considerable information was provided to assist proposers in Ireland filling out the application form for their family members. This included a detailed guidance document published in conjunction with the application form on 16 December 2021 and a Frequently Asked Questions document, drafted in light of queries received and published on 31 December 2021.

The guidance document also included a detailed checklist to assist proposers in ensuring that all of the requested information was provided. The original closing date for the Programme was delayed at the request of civil society groups to allow proposers time to gather the required information.

The information was requested to ensure the Programme benefitted its intended beneficiaries, and that my Department was satisfied as to the identities of both the proposers and their family members coming to Ireland. My Department reviewed the information received with a humanitarian and pragmatic eye, but unfortunately in many cases the information provided was not sufficient to process the application to its conclusion.

My Department is now in the process of writing out to proposers where the information provided was not sufficient, specifying the information required and asking them to return that information within 20 working days of receipt of the e-mail requesting the information.