356. Deputy Máire Devine asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the service level agreement targets for processing times for Irish residence permit applications; the average processing time for IRP applications in 2024; the current average processing time; the longest processing time in 2024; the current longest processing time; whether his Department handling these applications requires additional personnel; whether the 12-week period an IRP applicant is permitted to remain in the state after their permit's expiry will be extended given the extreme delays applicants are currently experiencing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48469/26]

The 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, and I can assure the Deputy that my Department is exploring every avenue available to facilitate as many customers as possible and to increase processing capacity.

The Registration Office is open seven days a week to facilitate customers to process both first time registration appointments and online renewals. Additional staff have been assigned to this work, which has now begun to reduce the processing time for renewals. For certain categories of renewals, the processing time is now approximately 6 - 8 weeks from the time of initial application, with no category exceeding a wait time of 16 weeks.

The Registration Office provide a live application processing date broken down by stamp category, 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/.

While my Department endeavours to process applications as quickly as possible, processing times may vary due to a number of factors, such as the number of applications on hand, individual circumstances, the complexity of applications, whether further information is required, and peak application periods.

If an application is approved, the person concerned can expect to receive their new Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card within the following 10-15 working days.

The Registration Office has also issued a notice to employers regarding the legality of employing someone awaiting renewal. 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 is subject to the applicant submitting their renewal application prior to their current IRP card expiring. Further information on this notice can be found here: www.irishimmigration.ie/notice-to-employers-regarding-employees-awaiting-renewal-of-their-irp-card/.

In addition, customers may submit their renewal applications up to 12 weeks prior to expiry of permission, to allow sufficient time for an application to be reached and processed prior to a current permission expiring.

There are no plans to amend these provisions as suggested by the Deputy.

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 www.portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/.

As the Deputy may be aware, since 13 January 2025, all nationwide first-time registrations of Irish immigration residence permissions are the responsibility of the Registration Office of Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) of my Department. Furthermore, since November 2024, all renewals of immigration permissions transferred to ISD and are done using my Department’s online platform, meaning that applicants from across the country no longer have to attend in person at their local Garda Station.

As a result, the average processing time for renewals in 2024 is not readily available.