Bernard J. Durkan
Question:935 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when an application by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 4 for asylum will be concluded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1448/02]
Written Answers. - Asylum Applications.
Brendan Howlin
Question:943 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when his Department received an application from a person (details supplied) in Dublin 4 for permission to remain and work here on the basis of his marriage to an Irish national; the reason this person has not been granted permission to seek employment; the status of this person's application to live and work here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1551/02]
Liam Lawlor
Question:947 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will provide information on the status of a foreign national (details supplied) who has applied for asylum and residency over a six year period and who is married to an Irish national. [1607/02]
John Gormley
Question:951 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if and when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 4 will be granted asylum here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1696/02]
Frances Fitzgerald
Question:1035 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a person (details supplied) in Dublin 4 will be granted a permit to work here; and if this person is eligible for Irish nationality. [2813/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 935, 943, 947, 951 and 1035 together.
The person in question has made two separate applications to the Minister. The first is an application for refugee status and the second is an application for permission to remain in the State on the basis that he is residing here with his Irish citizen wife. As the person in question has been married to an Irish national for less than three years, he is not entitled to make a declaration of post-nuptial citizenship. The applicant can make an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided he can show that he has a period of one year's continuous residence in the State in the period immediately prior to his application and a total residence period of four years in the eight years immediately preceding that period. However, it would not be the policy of the Minister to grant such an application in the case of a person who is awaiting determination of an application for refugee status.
In so far as an entitlement to work is concerned, the position is that the right to work for certain asylum applicants is based on the Government decision of 26 July 1999 which allowed applicants to seek employment once they had applied before that date, had been 12 months without a final determination and had been compliant with their obligations in the asylum process. I understand that the applicant in this case was not compliant with his obligations in the asylum process and, accordingly, was not entitled to avail of the provisions of the Government decision of 26 July 1999. I further understand that a letter to this effect issued to the applicant on 13 September 2001.
Applications for refugee status are dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Refugee Act, 1996. Under that Act, two independent statutory offices were established to consider applications-appeals for refugee status and make recommendations to the Minister on whether such status should be granted. These two offices are the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, which considers applications for a declaration as a refugee at first instance and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal which considers applications for a declaration in the event of an appeal. I will make a decision on the application for refugee status in accordance with section 17 of the Act when I receive the recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, or, in the event of an appeal, of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
The second application made – the application for permission to remain as the spouse of an Irish national – does not come within the ambit of the Refugee Application Commissioner's statutory functions but is solely a matter for me as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The approach taken in relation to that application was set out for the applicant in a letter from my Department to his solicitor dated 18 December 2001. The letter indicated that, in order to facilitate the applicant, the Minister was willing to consider the application simultaneously with that of his application for refugee status, rather than await the outcome of the refugee determination process. In order to process the application, however, temporary sight of the material held in relation to the application for refugee status is required by my officials in order to ascertain all available relevant information in relation to the applicant's identity, nationality and background and in order to ensure that information supplied in respect of both applications coheres in all material respects. This material has been received in recent days and full consideration will now be given to this latter application.