Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1596.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if join family visa applications will be prioritised particularly for applicants whose family members are employed here as key workers, particularly in the healthcare sector, in view of the need to retain such personnel; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33172/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Deputy will agree that healthcare workers from outside Europe make an enormous contribution to the Irish health service. There are several different legal pathways available to healthcare workers who wish to work in Ireland and the entitlement to family reunification varies depending on the permission granted.

Healthcare workers who are residing in the State under a Critical Skills Employment Permits (CSEP) and Doctors who hold a two-year multi-site General Employment Permit (GEP) can apply for immediate family reunification. This means that they can apply for family at the same time as their own visa permission is being sought and they are processed in tandem. Applications for employment visas of this nature are typically processed within 4-6 weeks.

If an individual chooses not to apply for immediate reunification, applications for Join Family visas can be made at any time after they enter the state and are processed in the same manner as for Irish citizens, as Category A sponsors. My Department aims to process these applications within 6 months. Join family visas with a Category B sponsor, such as a non-EEA General Employment Permit (GEP) holder, can take up to twelve months to process.

I can advise the Deputy that there are currently seven overseas Visa Offices in addition to the Visa Office in Dublin. They are located in Abuja, Beijing, London, Moscow, Ankara, Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. I can further advise that while the current processing times for join family visa applications may vary across the different visa decision making centres globally, that processing times are largely in line with the expected processing times published across the Immigration Service Delivery websites.

All applications are processed in chronological order, based on date order of receipt. While every effort is made to process applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the volume and complexity of applications, the possible need for the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) function of the Department to investigate, inquire into, or seek further information, and the resources available.

I do appreciate the impact of delays on applicants and my Department has taken a number of measures to address the backlog including the assignment of additional staff resources. The resources available for these activities, and the accompanying operational and organisational structures are kept under ongoing review to ensure that resources are deployed as efficiently as possible.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Policy Document for Non-EEA Family Reunification, which was last amended in 2016, is currently under review. The review is examining a wide range of matters relating to applications for family reunification and my expectation is that it will be brought to conclusion later this year.

While I fully understand that all people moving to Ireland to live and work would wish to have their family join them, the issues to be examined as part of a family reunification application are complex. An important consideration in all family reunification applications, for example, is the ability of the sponsor to demonstrate a clear capacity to provide for their family member(s) if they are to be granted a permission to come to Ireland.