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Immigration Support Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2020

Tuesday, 10 November 2020

Questions (600, 601)

Holly Cairns

Question:

600. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to cases of passports being lost, misplaced or sent to the wrong person by INIS; if all relevant cases have been reported to the Data Protection Commission; if persons affected will be refunded the administration fees they paid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34758/20]

View answer

Holly Cairns

Question:

601. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice the number of passports either lost and-or misplaced or sent to the incorrect address by INIS between 1 October 2019 and 1 November 2020, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34759/20]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 600 and 601 together.

My Department is committed to protecting the rights and privacy of all individuals and complies fully with data breach reporting requirements.

The table below shows that a total of 22 passports from across the entire immigration area that were notified as lost, misplaced or sent to the incorrect address and reported to the Data Protection Commission by the Data Protection Officer of my Department, between 1 October 2019 and 1 November 2020.

Lost Passports

8

Misplaced and subsequently retrieved

2

Sent to incorrect address and subsequently retrieved

12

There has been some attention drawn recently in relation to the return of passports submitted for the renewal of permissions. Some 29,499 online applications for registration renewal have been successfully processed since July of this year by my Department. The small number of cases in relation to renewals (which represents a sub-set of the figures set out in the table above) should be viewed in this context. Notwithstanding this, my Department always strives to rectify any errors that may occur as quickly as possible. It also comply fully with our GDPR reporting requirements. The Immigration Service engages with, and provides appropriate assistance to affected individuals and an applicant can be reimbursed the cost of a replacement passport if the Registration Office is at fault for the loss of the original.

The Registration Office is currently processing approximately 10,262 applications seeking renewal of immigration registration, with up to 800 applications being received each week. Significant demand from people seeking to renew their immigration registration accumulated during the four months that the Registration Office in Dublin was closed earlier this year. Unfortunately, due to current Covid-19 restrictions, the Registration Office in Dublin is now closed again for in-person appointments and I am conscious that this may place an extra burden on the registration system in the months ahead.

To assist in addressing this demand, the new online system for the renewal of registrations in the Dublin area, which launched in July, enables applicants to safely engage with the Registration Office without the need to attend in person at Burgh Quay. Substantial additional resources are also being provided to the Registration Office to increase its capacity to handle current demand. The system is kept under continuous review and further measures to streamline the process for the benefit of our customers are currently under consideration.

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