Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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286. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she is considering dispensing with the requirement that all non-EEA researchers who undertake research activities on a four-year contract have to renew their Irish residency permit or visa each year at a cost of €300, and replacing that with a requirement that the third level institution would confirm each year that the researcher is continuing with the contract with the higher-level educational institution; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62939/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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All non-EEA persons over the age of 16 are required by Section 9 of the Immigration Act 2004, as amended, to register their permission to be in the State and are issued with an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) Card which displays details of the permission granted, the conditions attaching and the expiry date of the permission. The period of permission in the majority of cases is for a period of 12 months and a standard fee of €300 applies unless exempted.

The standard fee of €300 payable by an applicant is designed to reflect the effort and cost involved in processing registrations and the cost of issuing an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card. The Registration Office of my Department also provides an online renewals portal that speeds up the renewal process and a customer service team that is available to support customers.

I am aware, particularly in the current economic climate, of the financial pressures that non-EEA nationals in the State are under. The cost of registration and validity periods for permissions is kept under ongoing review by my Department. However, there are no current plans to reduce the fee or extend any validity periods.

My Department's Registration Office in Burgh Quay is responsible for registering and renewing immigration permissions for customers residing in the Dublin area only. Registrations and renewals for persons resident outside of the Dublin area are processed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) through the Garda Station network. The allocation of appointments for registration and renewal with GNIB, for some 50 locations nationwide, is a matter for An Garda Síochána.

I have also checked with EURAXESS Ireland who processes PhD researcher Hosting Agreements on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. They have advised that there is no significant delay in the processing of applications or renewals of contracts with eligible participants with most applications dealt with in a matter of days. Once EURAXES has processed the application the applicant is then able to register or renew their Hosting Agreement with their local Registration Office.

All Applications for the renewal of immigration permissions are dealt with by the Registration Unit of my Department in chronological order that they are received. The current processing times for online renewals is 6 weeks. If an application for renewal of an immigration permission is approved, applicants can expect to receive their new Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card within 10 working days.

The online renewal facility was launched in July 2020 to process immigration permission renewals and there has been approximately 186,000 registrations renewed online since the facility was launched.

Any customer who has an emergency can contact the Immigration Service Helpdesk by emailing immigrationsupport@justice.ie who will endeavour to assist.