Vol. 566 No. 1
643 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the status of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny whose original application for asylum was granted with their brother's; and if a submission made by this person explaining their case and answering queries will be acknowledged. [11834/03]
Neither the person to whom the question refers nor her brother were granted refugee status although both had made applications in that regard. Her brother was granted permission to remain in the State on the basis of his marriage to an Irish national. In September 2001 she was granted permission to remain in the State for one year as an exceptional measure on the basis that she was dependent on her brother. She was 17 years of age at the time. She is now 20 years of age and is no longer a minor. The correspondence to which the Deputy refers cannot be traced in the immigration and citizenship division of my Department. However, there is information available on file which indicates that she no longer resides with her brother and, as a consequence, is no longer dependent on him. Consequently, the permission to remain which was originally granted to her cannot simply be extended on the basis of dependency. It will be necessary for her to apply for permission to remain in her own right setting out reasons why such permission should be granted. Although her family and domestic circumstances can be taken into account in the context of an application they will be evaluated by reference to the fact that the applicant is no longer a minor.
644 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the situation regarding the finger printing of non-nationals. [11839/03]
The current position regarding the proposed fingerprinting of non-nationals is set out in my replies to Question No. 318 on 10 April 2003, Question No. 268 on 1 April 2003 and Questions Nos. 25 and 42 on 6 February 2003. No decision has yet been made on this issue.
