Tom Elliott, Ulster Unionist MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, has questioned the PSNI on the efficiency of providing checks for Access NI applications.
Mr Elliott said:
"Recently I have been receiving calls from constituents concerning the long timescales of receiving back Access NI applications from the PSNI after security checks. In one case, a constituent of mine has been waiting over 4 months for the application to be processed through Access NI checks. Access NI are indicating that they are regularly waiting long periods for the PSNI checks coming back.
"Over time the PSNI checks appear to have taken progressively longer. It is those who are waiting on the applications to come back who are being badly inconvenienced.
"I understand that the checks have to be thorough, and there are a huge volume of applications to deal with. However, I think that over 3 months is too long to wait to receive an application back from the PSNI. I would therefore call on the PSNI to review their operations in regard to checks of Access NI application forms.”