Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1661. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will confirm that contact between his Department and visa applicants is limited to the on-line portal, meaning that applicants cannot contact the Department by phone or email; the reason for this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21178/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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In keeping with the Government commitment to significantly enhance the delivery of public services digitally, phase one of my Department's Immigration Digital Contact Centre (DCC) went live in October 2024.

The DCC is a self-service portal that enables applicants to check the status of their visa applications, book first-time registration appointments, and submit queries. The DCC has replaced numerous mailboxes across my Department, including the Visa Office mailbox. Contact information for the Visa division was updated on my Department's Immigration Service website to reflect this move to the DCC. The DCC is now the primary avenue for customers to contact the Immigration Service.

My Department is committed to providing the best possible service to applicants and a centralised applicant support team is in place comprising of over 20 staff to support this. Since the DCC went live more than 87,000 people have registered with the system and over 84,000 customer queries have been resolved.

Work is ongoing to continuously improve the services offered by the DCC and my Department remains committed to providing the best possible service to applicants and service users.

My Department recognises that, while the move to digital services offers innovative new ways to engage with the public that we serve, it can also create barriers for some people in accessing its services and, in line with relevant legislation, has put in place mechanisms to resolve this. An Access Officer is available and is responsible for providing, arranging or co-ordinating assistance to persons with disabilities who wish to access the services provided by the Department of Justice. The Access Officer also acts as a point of contact for persons with disabilities who wish to access such services. When cases are identified that a person may have difficulties accessing the online system or need reasonable accommodations due to their persons circumstances, immigration officials will assist them on a case-by-case basis and can provide an offline process when appropriate.

Finally, in the case of visa applications it is also open to the applicant to make follow up contact with their appropriate Embassy, Consulate, Visa Office or Visa Application Centre regarding their application where, for example, online access is difficult, circumstances require direct contact or in time-sensitive genuine emergency circumstances.