Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
Link to this: Individually | In context

524. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will address difficulties faced by residents of County Mayo in securing first-time immigration registration appointments following the centralisation of services to the Dublin Burgh Quay office in January 2025; if he is aware that prior to this change, appointments were available locally at Garda stations such as Ballyhaunis; the rationale for removing local registration options; the steps he will take to ensure timely availability of appointments, given that current advice to applicants is to "keep checking the website" and that no appointments are available for the next 90 days, causing significant financial and logistical burdens for applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65070/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Registration Office of my Department is currently experiencing an exceptionally high demand for first time registration appointments and are aware that appointment availability is severely limited.

I understand that the extended wait times to secure an appointment can be frustrating for applicants. I can assure the Deputy that my Department is doing everything possible to facilitate as many customers as possible.

New appointment slots are being released on a rolling 90-day basis, with additional slots being made available where capacity is identified and as any cancellations/reschedules are made. The Registration Office has also extended opening hours and are now open seven days a week to meet this demand. It is anticipated that further measures to increase the availability of appointments will be taken in the coming weeks.

Applicants are advised to monitor the dedicated booking appointment system via the Customer Service Portal at portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/, for any available appointments that may come up due to cancellations.

If customers have successfully booked an appointment, but wish to amend the date, they can do so via the reschedule option to any other available date. Please be aware that given the current exceptional demand it is not possible to accommodate requests for an earlier appointment.

If customers have an emergency, they can submit a query to the Registration Office via the portal and should provide documentary evidence. Details on how to apply for an emergency appointment are available at the following link: www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/submitting-registration-or-renewal-queries/. As the Deputy will be aware, since 13 January 2025, all nationwide first-time registrations of Irish immigration residence permissions are the responsibility my Department. This completed the full civilianisation of the Garda administrative immigration functions as recommended by the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Prior to this transfer over 100 Gardaí were assigned to immigration duties. The release of these Gardaí enables Garda management to focus resources more on enforcement and operational matters such as deportations and investigations. As part of the process of transferring these functions to my Department, the renewal of permissions is now available online for all areas of the country; prior to this renewals in most parts of the country had to be carried out in person.