The Department of Justice collected more than €71 million from the issuing of migrant registration cards in 2023, the highest total recorded.
It represented an increase of €18 million – or 34 per cent – in one year alone.
Each year thousands of people from outside the EU and their family members face a registration fee to live in Ireland.
The Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card costs €300 for a person over the age of 18.
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The fee is the same for first time registration and renewal.
However, it costs the state approximately €20.50 to produce and deliver each card.
Lijie Shao, spokeswoman for the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) fair fees campaign group said the fee was “exorbitant” and was having a “huge negative impact on people’s lives”.
“The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee told us last June that the IRP card fee would be reviewed by March 2024. Now we are in May and still paying this exorbitant fee”.
The fee doubled in 2012 as an austerity measure and has not been reviewed since.
It fee has generated €318 million for the state in the 10 years to 2023.
The information about the income the fee has generated, and the costs of producing it, were revealed in response to parliamentary questions.
The fee is high in comparison with other countries. In Greece, the card costs €16, while in Austria it costs €20.
It Switzerland, it costs €42, and in Luxembourg, €80.
Fair Fees group member Kareshma Sookharry, originally from Mauritius, who works as a catering assistant said it was “always hard for me as a single mother to find any extra money for the IRP card”.
“There were times when we have to go without basics just to have money to pay the IRP fee. I pay monthly rent of €1,300 on top of bills, food, childcare, medical expenses while also supporting my parents. The IRP card fees always leave us in a big hole financially,” she said.
“The issuing of an IRP card is a simple and inexpensive procedure just like renewing a passport. A standard 10-year passport costs €75 and a driving license costs €55 for first time and renewal and lasts 10 years. Yet the price of an IRP card is much higher and charged every year,” Neil Bruton, campaigns manager with MRCI said.
“Reducing these fees is the right thing to do and will show that Ireland values students, workers and families who make their home here and contribute so much to our society,” he said.
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