Written Answers Nos. 735-750
735. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to provide the number of live applications within An Garda Síochána for Garda transfers, and the number of transfers which took place, in 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form. [3941/26]
View answerI have requested the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda authorities. Regrettably, this was not available in time and I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.
736. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of IPAS accommodation centres currently operating with the exempted development regulations set out in SI No. 605/2022, S.I. No. 376/2023, and section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, with a breakdown by local authority area, exempted development type and number of people accommodated in each category. [3959/26]
View answerThe Planning and Development (Exempted Development) (No. 4) Regulations (S.I. 605 of 2022) were introduced to assist the State in meeting Ireland’s legal obligation to provide accommodation to international protection applicants.
The Regulations 2023 (S.I. 376 of 2023) extended the planning exemption provided by S.I. 605 of 2022, from 31 December 2024 to 31 December 2028. This means that properties covered by this SI can operate as an accommodation centre for people seeking international protection under the provisions of that legislation for as long as it is applicable.
IPAS currently has 312 accommodation centres in operation, and over 33,000 residents in total. The Department does not collate data on accommodation centres by planning exemption in the format requested by the Deputy.
IPAS provide weekly reports that outline resident numbers by type of centre, and provide resident numbers by Local Authority area. These reports are available on gov.ie here: [Statistics 2004 to 2026]
As these reports show, 259 IPAS accommodation centres are emergency accommodation centres, accommodating 25,634 of those residents.
The majority of International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) commercial emergency accommodation has been commissioned as part of the emergency response to increased demand since 2022.
In 2024, Ministerial Orders were put in place under section 181(2)(a) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in respect of 4 State owned sites: Thornton Hall, Fingal; Lissywollen, Athlone; Crooksling, Brittas; and Columb Barracks, Mullingar. The orders relating to Thornton Hall, Crooksling and Athlone were revoked in 2024 and 2025.
The Department continues to manage and source suitable international protection accommodation, with an emphasis on development of more State-owned accommodation options, and moving away over time from reliance on commercial provision.
737. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total number of Gardaí in the State at present, and in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4006/26]
View answerThe Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána under Section 33 of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, which includes the distribution and stationing of Garda personnel throughout the State.
The latest published data shows that the overall Garda workforce includes 14,462 Garda members, 3,486 staff and 308 reserves.
I am committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda organisation is central to this policy.
The Garda Vote in Budget 2026 includes unprecedented funding of €2.74 billion which will support the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.
In the interest of transparency, An Garda Síochána publish information in relation to resources which is publicly available and can be found at the following link:
www.garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/human-resources-and-people-development/garda-hr-directorate/garda-strength-breakdown-2025/.
The Deputy should select the Garda Workforce figures for the latest month and access the file titled “Garda Workforce Strength 2006 to the latest date” for a breakdown of total Gardaí numbers going back to 2006.
738. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of Garda traffic enforcement operations carried out in the Carlow and Kilkenny region in each of the years 2023 to 2024 and to date in 2025; the number of Garda members assigned to dedicated traffic duties in each period, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4008/26]
View answerI have requested the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda authorities. Regrettably, this was not available in time and I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.
739. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to urgently intervene in the case of a person (details supplied) and allow for accommodation in this genuine case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4047/26]
View answerMy Department continues to work as part of the whole-of-Government response with a focus on providing access to emergency temporary accommodation to those fleeing the conflict who request it, in line with Government policy.
Department officials have informed me that the person in question submitted an Exceptional Absence Application, assessed under the Department's October 2023 Absence Policy.
The Absence Policy at that time provided for limited circumstances whereby the State will pay for beds in emergency accommodation when the occupant is absent, these are namely medical and compassionate reasons.
The application was denied as it was deemed not in line with the provisions of the policy. The person was advised of this decision through their accommodation provider, and they were advised that should they wish to take a non-exceptional absence from their emergency accommodation, they had the option to voluntarily relinquish their accommodation.
It was noted that this must be done in advance of the person’s absence by submitting an Accommodation Relinquishment Notification. It was also advised that by not doing this, the absence would be deemed as unsanctioned and a refusal of state-funded accommodation, with no further accommodation offered by the Department.
I have been informed by my officials that my Department received confirmation (from the accommodation provider) that this person had left their accommodation unsanctioned and without submitting an relinquishment notification, and therefore they are no longer entitled to any further offers of accommodation.
As the Deputy will be aware, persons arriving since March 2024 were entitled to 90 days accommodation only, this further reduced to 30 days accommodation only from 10th November 2025. I can further advise the Deputy that with effect from 8th September 2025 persons who had arrived before March 2024 but who leave temporary protection accommodation, cannot avail of a second offer of accommodation.
740. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of full-time Gardaí with drug-related intimidation training, by district in Cork. [4102/26]
View answerTackling the scourge of drug dealing and targeting organised crime groups, who inflict intimidation, violence and misery on families and communities across Ireland, is a major priority for government. I can assure the Deputy that tackling drug intimidation is a major priority for An Garda Síochána.
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that all Divisions in the Southern Region (including Cork City & Cork County) have nominated Liaison personnel of Inspector rank, who have responsibility to respond to the issue of drug related intimidation. This includes one Inspector for Cork City and three for Cork County.
The Deputy may also be interested to note that the drug related intimidation & violence engagement (DRIVE) project, launched last year, brings together law enforcement, health services, social services, and community organisations to tackle drug related Intimidation from multiple perspectives. It operates on a national scale across Ireland, ensuring consistent and comprehensive support in all regions.
Furthermore An Garda Síochána continue to target, disrupt and dismantle the drug trafficking networks that impact on our communities and prosecute those involved at every level.
741. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to Parliamentary Question No. 714 of 16 December 2025, if the information requested can be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4156/26]
View answerAs previously advised, the specific type of data relating to judicial review cases concerning age assessment is not recorded in departmental records in a manner that can be readily extracted. Judicial review cases concerning potential, or actual, unaccompanied minors may involve issues in addition to age assessment. This may result in the proceedings being comprised of multiple claims, respondents and requested reliefs; the manual examination of a large number of departmental files would be required to ensure that a comprehensive answer to the range of questions raised by the Deputy could be provided.
However, as previously noted, officials from within my Department have engaged with their counterparts in the Chief State Solicitors' Office (CSSO) with a view to determining whether further detail may be available from the CSSO’s internal recording systems.
I can now confirm that, having reviewed their records, the CSSO have identified the file listed in the table below in which the question of age assessment within the context of International Protection has been a germane issue and in which the Minister for Justice was named as either a Respondent or Notice Party to the proceedings (as indicated in the table). My officials are informed that an additional level of detail beyond that contained below is not readily available at this time.
|
Year |
No. of cases |
Status of Minister for Justice as a party to the proceedings
|
|
2025 |
2 |
1 in which Minister is Respondent 1 in which Minister is Notice Party |
|
2024 |
2 |
2 in which Minister is Respondent |
|
2023 |
4 |
4 in which Minister is Respondent |
|
2022 |
4 |
4 in which Minister is Respondent |
|
2021 |
0 |
|
Finally, as the Deputy will be aware there are also cases where Tusla is the respondent and there may also be cases where the Minister has neither been named as a respondent nor as a notice party to the proceedings.
742. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of WTE staff, by job title working at the visa offices based in London, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, New Delhi and Ankara as of 12 January 2026; the number of those staff that are directly employed by his Department and those staff that are from local recruitment agencies respectively, in tabular form. [4181/26]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that there are currently seven overseas Visa Offices in addition to the Visa Office in Dublin. They are located in Abuja, Beijing, London, Moscow, Ankara, Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. In addition, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade process certain visa applications in Irish Embassies abroad under delegated sanction from my Department. I recently visited staff in our visa offices in New Delhi and Abu Dhabi to meet with our teams and see first-hand the work that they are doing.
Table 1 below details the number of staff in the London, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, New Delhi and Ankara Visa Offices as of 12 January 2026. The overseas Visa Offices are staffed by Visa Officers posted from my Department’s Visa Division and staff employed locally.
Table 1. Overseas Visa staff in London, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, New Delhi and Ankara as of 12 January 2026.
|
Office |
Posted |
Local |
Total |
|
Abu Dhabi |
4 |
6 |
10 |
|
Ankara |
5 |
4 |
9 |
|
Beijing |
5 |
8 |
13 |
|
London |
5 |
2 |
7 |
|
New Delhi |
5 |
19 |
24 |
|
Total |
24 |
39 |
63 |
Officials posted overseas from my Department’s Visa Division consist of one “Visa Office Manager” of Higher Executive Officer / Administrative Officer grade in each of the overseas offices who are supported by Visa Officers at Executive Officer and Clerical Officer grade and local staff in administrative roles. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are responsible for the recruitment of local staff.
In 2025, approximately 206,000 visa applications, of all types, were received by the Visa Division of my Department. This reflects an increase of 2% compared to 2024, with over 3,900 additional applications received. This follows a 21% increase in applications in 2024 compared to 2023. My officials are working to meet the increased level of demand, and over 8,700 additional visa decisions have issued in 2025, compared to 2024.
743. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if Approved Housing Bodies are providing accommodation for former residents of IPAS centres who have not yet been given leave to remain, and if he will provide statistics and other details of the numbers and the AHBs involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4214/26]
View answerAll applicants for international protection are entitled to material reception conditions under EU and Irish law.
IPAS Accommodation is provided for in EU regulations and transposed into Irish law. Statutory Instrument No 230/2018, European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018, provides that all IP applicants are entitled to Material Reception Conditions.
IPAS Accommodation is the only accommodation offered by the Department to international protection applicants and the State does not accommodate applicants in other settings as outlined in the question.
Applicants may also independently arrange their own accommodation while their application is being considered, and some applicants do not take up offers of accommodation from IPAS.
Due to the specific legal status of people applying for international protection, during their application process they do not have access to standard social welfare benefits, nor to standard housing services and entitlements.
744. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if aTurkish national residing inTurkey can apply directly toIrish authorities under theTURA tomove toIreland and establish aservice provision business, without first holding employment here [4218/26]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that a person can only apply for the Turkish Association Agreement (TURA) from within the State, once they have met the eligibility requirements as outlined on my Department's Immigration Service website.
To be eligible for this agreement an applicant must satisfy all of the following criteria:
• They must be a Turkish national, and
• They must have been working legally in the State for a minimum period of one year, with the same employer, and that they have held a valid Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card for this time period, and
• They have not been convicted of any serious crimes in the State.
If an application is successful, and the applicant has been working for the same employer for one year, they will be given permission to continue to work for that employer. This will be a stamp 1 permission allowing the applicant to work for their current employer without the need for an employment permit. It should also be noted that Stamp 1 holders are generally not permitted to establish their own business, nor are those who have Stamp 1 under TURA permitted to work for anyone except the employer named on their permission.
Full details of this agreement is available at the following link:
www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situation-has-changed-since-i-arrived-in-ireland/turkish-association-agreement/.
745. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his plans to decrease the waiting list of people receiving their citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4221/26]
View answerI am aware that extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants. I want to assure anyone who has an application for naturalisation submitted, that my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible.
My Department has taken a significant number of steps to speed the process for applicants. These included introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that these changes are reducing processing times.
The length of time taken to process a naturalisation application has dropped from 15 months in 2023, to 8 months in 2024. Statistics in relation to 2025 are still being calculated.
My Department held 25 ceremonies in 2025 and 24 ceremonies in 2024, an increase from the 15 ceremonies held in 2023, and the 6 that were held in 2022.
It is important to note, however, that no two naturalisation applications are the same and some take longer than others to process. Given the importance of citizenship, robust and comprehensive checks must take place on each application. Unfortunately some checks, such as international checks, can take a considerable amount of time and these are largely outside of the control of the Immigration Service.
For that reason, while, I expect that going forward, that most applicants will receive a decision within one year, this cannot be guaranteed in the case of applications made in any specific year.
746. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to confirm when a citizenship application will be completed, in view that it is 19 months since the application (details supplied) was first lodged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4270/26]
View answerThe Citizenship Division of my Department has requested further documentation from the person cited by the Deputy.
The person concerned has been given 28 days from the date of the letter to provide this information. On receipt, my Department will resume processing this application.
My Department has produced a comprehensive guidance document for all potential applicants which outlines all the documents required for an application. This document is published on my Department's Immigration website and is available here: www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Citizenship-Guidance-Document-April-2024.pdf.
Applicants can now directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s Customer Service Portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at: portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/.
As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.
747. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will respond to concerns regarding the resident permit renewals and critical skills employment permits for nurses (details supplied); if he will increase processing capacity for IRP renewals and critical skills permits, provide transparent timelines and communication for applicants awaiting approval; his plans to progress long-term solutions beyond temporary measures to prevent future backlogs; the protections available for individuals impacted by delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4297/26]
View answerThe Registration Office of my Department is currently experiencing an exceptionally high demand for first time registration appointments and immigration permission renewal applications.
I understand that the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants. I can assure the Deputy that my Department is doing everything possible to facilitate as many customers as possible and I am working with officials to ensure that increased processing capacity is put in place to address the high demand.
The Registration Office within Immigration Service Delivery of my Department provide a live processing date, which is updated every Monday, and is available at the following link: www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/how-to-renew-your-current-permission/renewing-your-registration-permission-if-you-live-in-the-republic-of-ireland/#processing.
The office is currently processing applications submitted from 31 October 2025. Customers may submit their renewal application up to 12 weeks prior to expiry of their permission to allow sufficient time for an application to be reached, and processed, prior to their current permission expiring.
If an application is approved, it may take up to a further 15 business days to receive the new Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card by post.
The Registration Office has also issued a notice to employers regarding the legality of employing someone awaiting renewal. This notice can be found here: www.irishimmigration.ie/notice-to-employers-regarding-employees-awaiting-renewal-of-their-irp-card/.
If an employee’s IRP card has expired and they are unable to obtain a new one by the expiry date of their current IRP card, they are still legally permitted to remain in the State on their existing IRP card for a maximum of 12 weeks. This 12 week provision is subject to the employee providing proof that they have applied to renew their permission, including when changing stamp category, prior to their current IRP card expiring.
Issues relating to employment permits including critical skills permits are a matter for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Once a non-EEA national receives an employment permit, they can submit an application to renew their IRP card.
748. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he is aware of the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will outline the options available to that person following a redundancy in a job which was tied to their visa status. [4300/26]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that my Department has received an Extension of Work Permit Conditions (EWPC) application from the person referenced, which continues to be processed.
It is important to note that no two applications are the same and some take longer than others to process. Each EWPC application is evaluated individually and the time taken to process an application varies based on a number of factors such as the number of applications on hand, the complexity of the case and the quality of the application received.
If the applicant is successful, they will be given a temporary immigration permission to remain in the State in order to make an application for an employment permit.
Matters relating to employment permits do not fall within the remit of my Department and are a matter for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE). Further information on employment permits and the Reactivation Employment Permit scheme is available at the following link: Reactivation Employment Permit - DETE (enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/workplace-and-skills/employment-permits/permit-types/reactivation-employment-permit/)
Applicants can now directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s Customer Service Portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at: portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/.
As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.
The role of my Department is to grant eligible people in this situation, who have previously legally worked in the State, a permission to remain so they can submit an application to DETE for a Reactivation Employment Permit.
Further information is available on my Department's Immigration Service website here: Reactivation Employment Permit Scheme - Immigration Service Delivery (www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situation-has-changed-since-i-arrived-in-ireland/reactivation-employment-permit-scheme/).
749. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will clarify whether personal data held by his Department and its customer facing sections is subject to processing by artificial intelligence tools (details supplied). [4303/26]
View answer750. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he and or his officials have conducted a data protection impact assessment with regards to the use of artificial intelligence tools, and, if so, the dates on which this assessment was conducted. [4308/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 749 and 750 together.
My Department's Immigration Service Delivery customer service portal, the Digital Contact Centre (DCC) incorporates a chatbot using Microsoft Copilot and an identify verification service using ID-Pal.
Registered DCC users can interact with the chatbot and enter information into it. The chatbot operates within an authenticated and secure customer portal and has been trained only on information published on the Immigration website. This ensures that responses are accessible and based solely on verified, up-to-date, and publicly available content. Users are clearly informed that they are interacting with an AI system and are advised to verify the information provided. There is no post-processing of private data by the chatbot. The chatbot is designed to provide general guidance and does not carry out actions or make decisions.
The service provided by ID-Pal is integrated in the customer service portal for identity verification, for the purpose of establishing a customer account. ID-Pal uses AI machine learning technology to verify in real – time the authenticity of applicant’s identity documents, ensuring that the person is accurately identified.
My Department’s use of AI is part of a broader transformation of customer services in the immigration area. The approach taken is low-risk, transparent, and in line with national AI and procurement guidelines. AI tools are used to enhance efficiency and accessibility but do not make decisions affecting individual rights. Continuous monitoring, human oversight, and clear disclaimers ensure responsible and ethical use.
In line with public procurement and AI governance guidelines, my Department undertook a comprehensive risk assessment process as part of the deployment of the DCC. This included a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), which was last updated on 14 July 2025. Simultaneously, a separate DPIA for the usage of ID-Pal was conducted and last updated on 26 June 2025.
