Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
964 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality in relation to the new investor visa scheme, if he anticipates Ireland’s position outside of the Schengen Agreement as potentially providing a serious obstacle to take up of the scheme in view of the fact that persons will not be able to travel for business or pleasure in Europe once they have invested in and entered Ireland. [18146/12]
View answer965 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the new investor visa scheme will allow participants to travel and do business in the UK. [18147/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 964 and 965 together.
Any foreign national who is granted residency in Ireland under the Immigrant Investor Programme will be subject to the immigration laws and regulations of the United Kingdom and the Member States of the Schengen area if they wish to travel to those jurisdictions for business or recreational purposes. Such persons will of course be free to apply to those states for an appropriate permission for legal entry for whatever purpose and obviously it is important that we do not equate a requirement to have a visa to enter the UK or the Schengen zone with denial of access.
It is of course a matter for Schengen Member States and the UK to decide on the operation of their visa regimes. However, it would not be uncommon for friendly countries to regard their respective decisions on visa applications as persuasive when considering applications to enter their territory. In relation to the wider point about Ireland's position in relation to the Schengen Agreement it is not possible for us to simultaneously participate in that Agreement and remain part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) with the UK. Leaving the CTA would mean, for example, the implementation of full border controls between Ireland and the UK at all ports of entry and at the land border with Northern Ireland.
I can inform the Deputy that the longer term public policy objective in this regard is to develop a Common Travel Area visa with the UK which both countries committed to pursuing in an agreement signed in December 2011. A Common Travel Area visa would allow tourists and business visitors to travel to the Common Travel Area and to travel freely between Ireland and the UK. It is anticipated that such a visa will prove an attractive option for tourists and business visitors and it is intended to conduct a trial scheme which will be used to gauge likely demand and to resolve the substantial practical issues around its introduction.
966 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the short-term visa waiver scheme currently in place is a reciprocal agreement with the UK for persons travelling here. [18148/12]
View answerThe Irish Short-stay Visa Waiver Programme, which commenced on 1 July, 2011 allows tourists or business people who have lawfully entered the UK, including Northern Ireland, on a valid UK visa to travel on to Ireland without the requirement to obtain an Irish visa.
Nationals of seventeen countries are currently included in the programme including India, China, Russia, various priority Middle East countries and others. As part of the initiative, nationals of these countries, who are long-term legal residents in the UK, will have the cost of an Irish visa waived should they wish to visit Ireland. It is estimated that there are up to 1 million people in this category in the UK.
The Government agreed on 28 February to the extension of the Programme for a further period of four years i.e. to end October 2016, to add Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Programme and, as a further measure to encourage tourism, to waive the fee for visas for long-term residents from the countries covered by the Programme who live in the Schengen area. This last measure will be reviewed after six months.
The Programme as it operates at present does not for technical reasons allow for reciprocity between the UK and Ireland. This is primarily due to the UK requirement that all visa applicants supply fingerprint (biometrics) data electronically as an essential element of applying for a UK visa. Quite obviously Ireland does not have the capacity to capture such data for all visa applications worldwide; currently for UK visas this is done in over 150 countries.
However, there is very close cooperation between the immigration service of my Department and the UK immigration authorities and I regularly discuss with both the UK's Home Secretary and Minister for Immigration matters relating to the operation and oversight of the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangement. In December 2011, together with the UK's Immigration Minister, I signed an agreement which, among other things, commits both countries to developing a Common Travel Area visa. Such a visa would allow tourists and business visitors to travel to the CTA and to travel freely between Ireland and the UK. It is anticipated that such a visa will prove an attractive option for tourists and business visitors and it is intended to conduct a trial scheme which will be used to gauge likely demand and to resolve the substantial practical issues around its introduction. The availability of a visa for the Common Travel Area would, of course, supersede the existing Waiver Programme.
