The Immigration Service - under the cloud of four separate investigations - is not beyond repair, but Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove hopes an independent inquiry by the Auditor-general can be completed "as soon as possible".
Mr Cosgrove, in Dunedin yesterday for a small-business forum, said in an interview the Immigration Service "was not damaged beyond repair" and rather than become a costly exercise of reviews, could in time save money.
On Monday, Mr Cosgrove and Prime Minister Helen Clark ordered an independent inquiry into the Immigration Service by Auditor-general Kevin Brady, following on from investigations by police, a State Services inquiry and Labour Department review - all prompted by issues surrounding the former head of the service, Mary Anne Thompson.
Miss Clark has said ministers knew little about the Immigration Service's problems, felt "blindsided" by subsequent events problems, and that the confidence of Cabinet had been "somewhat shattered" by the revelations.
Mr Cosgrove, who described ministers as "having been sadly let down" about details of the Immigration Service issues, declined to speculate on whether the independent inquiry could be completed before or after the election.
However, he said "for the sake of the overwhelming number of good people working in the department" he hoped the Auditor-general would complete and release the report "in his own time, as he sees fit".
Yesterday, Parliament was told three successive Labour Department chief executives failed to fully brief ministers about what was in a report which raised concerns about the Pacific Division of the service.
National immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith asked how it was possible both former immigration minister David Cunliffe and current Immigration Minister Mr Cosgrove did not know about the findings in former justice secretary David Oughton's report.
The Oughton report had looked into Ms Thompson's involvement in getting New Zealand residency for family members.
The report found applications for New Zealand residence filed by relatives of Ms Thompson were given preferential treatment and, while she had not directly tried to influence the process, staff members had been instructed to override policy.
