Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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694. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of undocumented people in the State currently and in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25799/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of undocumented migrants living in the State. Such persons ordinarily do not make themselves known to officials of the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) of my Department, or their lack of permission to remain in the State known generally. As the Deputy will appreciate, irregular migration, by its very nature, is clandestine. Consequently, it is inherently difficult to quantify the extent of irregular migration.

Individuals without immigration permissions are encountered by An Garda Síochána, including during joint operations with other State authorities. In such instances they are referred to Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) of my Department for processing; ISD will then take the appropriate action, such as the issuance of a Deportation Order.

The Deputy will be aware of the Regularisation of Long-Term Undocumented Migrants scheme, which was opened on 31 January 2022 and closed on 31 July 2022. This once in a generation scheme was designed to give long-term undocumented people without a current permission to remain in the State, the chance to regularise their status, access the labour market and begin their path to citizenship. The scheme was only open to those who did not have a current permission to reside in the State.

My Department recorded 6,548 applications in respect of 8,311 individuals under the time limited scheme, including 1,126 minors, which were submitted as a part of family applications.

8,285 decisions have been issued to date to applicants of the scheme, of which 6,521 are positive decisions, 1,644 are negative decisions, and 120 applications have been withdrawn by the applicants for various reasons.