The Government is to introduce electronic fingerprinting for immigrants and asylum seekers arriving into Ireland. The move is part of an overhaul of the system used to process asylum, immigration and visa services at the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (Inis).
The Government says the changes will speed up the processing of applications for State services and help crack down on fraud.
Demand for such services has grown substantially in recent years with the large increase in foreign nationals visiting the country for business, study and other purposes.
While the number of applications for asylum has fallen to a nine-year low, applications for visas and citizenship have increased dramatically.
For example, the number of visa, immigration and citizenship applications made between 2001 and 2004 rose from 39,000 to 65,300, an increase of almost 70 per cent. Many representative groups for foreign nationals have complained about delays and difficulties accessing such services.
At present, the processing of various applications is handled by up to 20 different computer systems. However, a new €8.5 million information technology system is being installed at Inis which will draw together the various strands of immigration and asylum in a single system.
The new IT system is one of a number of technological developments in the areas, including a new electronic visa system for Inis and a new electronic fingerprinting system for the Garda and the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said the new developments would deliver better customer service and enable speedier decisions to be made in respect of applications for Inis services.
"The introduction of the system . . . will also enhance the capability of the State to deal with fraudulent claimants by providing an enhanced identity verification capability," he said.
Significant savings have been made in recent years by enhanced co-operation between Inis, the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
The need to develop systems for processing immigration, visa and citizenship services was identified in a review by independent consultants last year.
The unpublished report by PA Consulting said the priority attached to the asylum process meant sufficient resources were not available to meet increased demand in these areas. This, the report said, led to backlogs in dealing with applications and longer processing timeframes.
It said: "The department needs to develop the capacity to respond quickly and flexibly in allocating staff to areas of greatest need as trends changes. It also needs to continue the development of streamlined end-to-end processes in both the asylum and immigration areas."