Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 March 2026
368. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether an up-to-date Irish residence permit card is necessary in conjunction with a temporary protection certificate (yellow paper) for Ukrainians who have been given temporary protection in Ireland when they are entering the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23274/26]
View answer369. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of Irish residence permit cards that have been given to Ukrainians who are in Ireland under the temporary protection directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23275/26]
View answer370. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average waiting time for a Ukrainian person, in Ireland under the temporary protection directive, to receive an Irish residence permit card once they have applied for it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23276/26]
View answer371. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the advice that is being given to Irish immigration officials regarding how to treat a Ukrainian person who has been granted temporary protection in Ireland and who has their temporary protection certificate (yellow paper) but who does not have an Irish residence permit card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23277/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 368, 369, 370 and 371 together.
Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection hold a temporary permission to remain in Ireland, renewable annually for as long as the Directive remains in force.
On 15 July 2025, the Justice and Home Affairs Council extended Temporary Protection by a year until March 2027, providing certainty for beneficiaries who can continue to avail of the protections that the Directive provides.
All temporary protection certificates valid up to 4 March 2026 are now valid until 4 March 2027 and as such can be used when applying for an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card.
An valid IRP card is not a requirement for a person previously granted temporary protection to re-enter the state. However, when a non-EEA national presents at a border, an Immigration Officer must determine whether that person should be granted leave to land and gain entry to the State.
In performing these functions, officers may question passengers for the purpose of confirming identity, nationality, travel history and to establish the intended purpose of their arrival in the State, where necessary. Such checks are routine and form part of standard operational procedures. All people arriving at the border are required to engage with immigration officers and comply with reasonable requests made in the course of these checks.
People granted Temporary Protection have been invited by my Department to register and receive an IRP card. An IRP card is a small wallet-sized card that shows a person is legally in the State and the type of immigration permission they hold.
Once registered, a person can expect to receive their new IRP card within the following 10-15 working days.
For renewal applications the Registration Office within Immigration Service Delivery of my Department is currently processing applications submitted from 1 January 2026.
A person awaiting an IRP card can now directly check the status of their application on the Immigration Service’s new Customer Service Portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at www.portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/
The table below shows the number of IRP cards that have been issued to Ukrainians who are in Ireland from 2022 to 2025.
|
2022 |
11,042 |
|
2023 |
27,608 |
|
2024 |
47,940 |
|
2025 |
57,353 |
* the statistics contained in the table reflect registrations and renewals of all Ukrainian nationals across all stamp categories, not just people that have been granted Temporary Protection.
