Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
46. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice what the delay is in regularising the status of those who applied under the regularisation of the long-term undocumented migrants scheme, which closed to applicants at the end of July 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18016/23]
View answerThis question is to ask the Minister what is the delay in regularising the status of those who have applied under the long-term undocumented migrants scheme, which closed for applications in July of last year. The scheme opened, I believe, in January or February of last year.
I thank the Deputy for tabling this very important question in respect of the regularisation of the long-term undocumented migrants scheme.
I am pleased to be able to advise the Deputy that 76% of all applications under this extremely successful and impactful scheme have been processed since it opened in the past year, with 89% of all decisions to date being positive ones. As the Deputy is aware, this once-in-a-generation scheme was designed to give long-term undocumented residents the opportunity to regularise their status, access the labour market legally and begin their path to citizenship. It has provided an opportunity for those who meet its criteria to remain and reside in the State and to become part of mainstream Irish society rather than living on its margins.
To flesh out the details, I can further advise that, in total, 6,548 applications were submitted in respect of 8,311 people under the scheme. Of these, 5,654, or 86%, were single applications and 894, 14%, were family applications. As of 11 April last, 4,302 applications have been granted, 592 applications have been refused, and 93 applications have been withdrawn by the applicants for various reasons. These applications relate to 6,386 people. Some 5,589 of them were granted, 685 were refused and 112 were withdrawn. The remaining applications relate, in the main, to more complex cases. It is not possible to provide a definitive timeframe for when all cases will be finalised, although every effort is being made to do so without undue delay. Each application received is assessed individually in accordance with the published criteria available on the Department's immigration website.
While every effort is made to process applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the complexity of applications, whether it is a single or family application, the supporting documentation, the vetting process with An Garda Síochána, the possible need for the immigration service delivery function of the Department to seek further information and the resources available.
Where an application is refused, it is open to the applicant to appeal the decision within 30 working days. The decision letter contains information on how to submit an appeal, with further information available on the immigration service website. The appeal will be considered by a different officer to the person who determined the original application to be unsuccessful. There is no additional fee to appeal a decision.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I welcome the figures and the progress that has been made. I was hoping there would have been some type of indicative timeframe for closing the process. I understand what the Minister of State has said, which is that it cannot be closed because some of the cases are complex. Do we expect 90% of the applications to be dealt with by the summer or are some of the cases so complex that there is no indication yet as to when the process will be concluded?
I welcome the scheme. I especially welcome it in light of the number of people of Irish descent in America who are seeking a similar scheme. The commentary around that in the past week has been interesting. This is a good way for us to ensure that the issue can be put to bed and that we deal with the undocumented people who are here. How many people have submitted appeals?
A total of 284 appeals have been received. I agree with the Deputy in that we have all been calling for a regularisation scheme in the United States of America for some time.
It was important for this State to set out that it was prepared to do what it called on other states to do and bring in a regularisation scheme to help those people. The people who needed the regularisation scheme are on the margins, often working in the black market and being exploited. This is a scheme the Department of Justice can be proud of. I note the support across the Houses for the scheme when it was introduced. We were very particular that the application process should use simple and clear language. I dealt with some of it while the Minister, Deputy McEntee, was on maternity leave. I come from the legal profession but sent a clear message that nobody should need legal advice to do this. It needs to be simple and clear, and I think it was.
I cannot give a date for how long more it will take because each case is individual and many of the remaining cases are complex. We are also trying to give applicants every opportunity to rectify applications where there are problems. We are giving that time as needed.
I have dealt with the case of a person who applied last February and in the meantime lost a job because the temporary stamp he was on ran out. The quicker we deal with people’s positions, the better. Have we identified issues that would cater for those not captured by the scheme? There are those who are undocumented or do not have a regular status here who may benefit from a similar scheme. There are students who have overstayed their period here and are now undocumented who would not have qualified in this case.
I have previously asked if it has been considered in this scheme that time spent in this country as undocumented would be taken into account when applying for naturalisation or citizenship. I do not think it has been to date.
Generally speaking, the pathway to citizenship is clear and is set out in legislation. There was a cut-off point but it was acknowledged internationally that our cut-off point for the regularisation scheme was quite generous. It was for the long-term undocumented, but we kept it down to quite a short period for people to qualify. There will always be people, unfortunately, who just miss out. That is the nature of these things, but I ask anybody who is undocumented in the country to come forward and see if there is some way to rectify their situation.
