Written Answers - Immigrant Registration Procedures.
John McGuinness
Question:
513
Mr. McGuinness
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the reasons for the delays and queues at the office of alien registration, Harcourt Street Garda Station, Dublin; if there is a requirement for extra staff; and if an application for the extension of an American passport for a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary can be dealt with by any other Department or in any other way.
[11576/01]
Non-EEA nationals – the EEA is comprised of the member states of the EU plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland – who intend to reside in the State for longer than three months are required to register with the Garda registration office for the area in which they intend to reside. In the case of a person residing in Clonmel, the appropriate registration office is located at the superintendent's office, Clonmel Garda station.
The immigration registration office, Harcourt Square, deals with the registration of persons living in the Dublin area only. It is the case that this office has experienced unprecedented growth in demand for its services in recent years and that this has led to delays for persons seeking to register or renew their permission to remain. The number of persons registered at the immigration registration office reflects the increase in migration to the State generally and has grown from 12,803 in 1998 to 26,641 in 2000 – an increase of 108% in two years.
The Garda National Immigration Bureau, which was established following Government decision of 9 May 2000, has as one of its key responsibilities the co-ordination of registration services throughout the State. Since its establishment it has made significant progress in improving the quality of the service provided at the immigration registration office. The number of civilian staff has been more than doubled from ten to 24 and the opening hours have been extended so that the office is now open from 8. a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Thursday inclusive, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. Temporary additional accommodation has also been made available.
In addition, my Department, in consultation with the Garda National Immigration Bureau, has introduced a number of measures which are designed to streamline the operation of the registration system. Certain categories of non-EEA nationals will no longer be required to register as often as heretofore thereby reducing the numbers who are likely to attend on any given day.
My Department is also in consultation with the Office of Public Works with a view to securing a new and far larger building which would enable more persons to be dealt with at any given time and improve the quality of service generally. It is hoped to have this accommodation in place by the end of this year. Furthermore, the Garda authorities are in the process of seeking tenders for the provision of an IT system to make the registration service more efficient.
The Garda National Immigration Bureau has my full support in its efforts in this regard and I am in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner in respect of future needs arising in relation to all aspects of the bureau's work.
Question No. 514 answered with Question No. 491.
