A new deal for long-term residents could be unveiled in as little as three months, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Paula Cox told MPs on Friday.

She said: "This is a complex situation -- however, this Government is mindful of the sensitivities and concerns of the people of Bermuda.

"It's going to be fairly broad, but it will be within a three to six month period.'' Ms Cox spoke out after Opposition MP Cole Simons tabled a series of questions on the number of Working Residents' Certificates issued since last August, when the then-UBP Government offered a better deal for overseas residents who have lived and worked on the Island for 20 years.

Ms Cox said that the PLP Government were committed to producing a discussion document -- a Green Paper -- on long term residents and preparing a further White Paper to be tabled in the House.

She added: "In the interim the issuing of Working Residents' Certificates will continue.'' Ms Cox told the House that a total of 492 applications had been sent to Government since last August.

She added a total of 196 certificates had been issued with almost half handed out since the PLP's November victory at the polls.

Ms Cox said: "The number of unsuccessful applications has been 49 -- by unsuccessful, I mean people have not provided all the information required or met the criteria.'' Then Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness tabled a Green Paper on rights for long-term resi dents in June last year.

Later, his successor, Maxwell Burgess, introduced the certificate scheme as a stop-gap measure pending a White Paper.

But the UBP crashed from power before the polished policy document could be brought to the House.

Ms Cox said after she took office that the PLP version would most likely be "an amalgam'' of the work already done and the new Government's priority.

The then-Opposition said when the Green Paper was announced that the problem of long-residents would not go away when work permits were renewed "time after time''.

Then-Shadow Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Alex Scott, said the PLP favoured a version of the US "Green Card'' scheme, although Green Cards can be traded in for full citizenship in the US -- not on the cards under the PLP's plans.

An estimated 1,200 people were eligible to apply for the Working Residents' Certificates, which allow long-term residents to live permanently on the Island and to be employed without the restriction of a work permit.

BY THE NUMBERS By the Numbers 1,200 The number of people eligible for Working Residents Certificates 492 Applications received for Working Residents certificates 196 Successful applicants to date 49 Unsuccessful applicants to date