Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Section 9 of the Immigration Act 2004 provides that a register of non-nationals who have permission to be in the State (in general for a period of 3 months or longer) shall be established and maintained by registration officers and also provides that a non-national is required to pay a fee to the registration officer for the issue of a registration certificate. This fee is set by regulations made by the Minister for Justice with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. It is common practice throughout Europe to charge a fee for immigration services.

The Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card provides the customer with a secure immigration document including individual biometrics indicators protected by a sophisticated encryption system and showing the holders’ immigration status in the State. This high quality secure document is easily recognisable for employers and Government agencies alike. It certifies that a person is legally registered with the Irish immigration authorities and provides details of the immigration permission held, for example a Stamp 1 or 4, etc. Once a person has an in-date IRP card, there is no requirement to apply for a re-entry visa when returning to the State after a short period abroad.

An applicant is exempted from the fee if they:

• Have refugee status
• Have subsidiary protection status
• Have leave to remain under Section 49 of the International Protection Act 2015
• Are under 18
• Are resident based on your marriage to an Irish citizen
• Are a family member of an EU citizen

The issuance of the IRP card is the final act of a legal and administrative process involving consideration of the applicant’s particular circumstances and reason for wishing to reside in the State, by a number of different Units in Immigration Service Delivery of my Department. , The registration fee of €300 is designed to reflect the totality of that effort and cost in processing immigration residence permissions. These costs are above and beyond the cost of the physical production of the card itself.

The costs include the significant and growing levels of staffing, the operation of the public offices at which the first registration activity is carried out, an online portal for renewals and the costs of information technology, which is being updated to improve the service to applicants.

Given the foregoing considerations, it is not possible to determine with any certainty a unit cost for the production of any one IRP card, the physical cost of production would not be reflective of the totality of costs incurred.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that in the coming weeks the vast majority of IRP card holders will be able to avail of my Departments online renewal portal platform to renew their immigration permission.

From 8 July 2024, responsibility for the registration of Irish immigration residence permissions for Cork and Limerick, will transfer from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) to my Department. With this transfer, approximately 80% of all national registrations and renewals will be undertaken by my Department. It is anticipated that the nationwide transfer of registration functions to the Department of Justice can be substantively completed by early 2025.