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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 12 Oct 2010

Vol. 718 No. 1

Adjournment Debate

Schools Building Projects

I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise an issue vital to the future of the children of Kinsale. On behalf of the 762 pupils on the roll of Kinsale community school, I ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the timetable for the completion of the proposed extension for their school.

The school's existing building was designed for 460 pupils and completed in 1996. From the day it opened, it accommodated more than 500 pupils and the school management had to convert the stage into an art room and the art room into a woodwork room. The school is now short of classrooms for biology, woodwork, metalwork, art, music, technical drawing and graphics. It also requires a gym.

There are no canteen facilities to cater for its current enrolment of 762 pupils. Kinsale is regarded as the gourmet capital of Ireland and this sector offers good employment prospects in the local economy. There is but one small home economics classroom. If the Government's primary aim is to create employment, it is going about it the wrong way.

My information is that over two years ago departmental officials agreed that the school needed to be doubled in size and predicted that the school would have to cater for 850 pupils. The school's management was told that a design team would be appointed in the third quarter of this year but we are now in the fourth quarter. Miraculously this morning, after this matter was selected for the Adjournment debate, the building unit in the Department of Education and Skills contacted the school to arrange a meeting for next Tuesday to discuss the implications of appointing a design team. Is this a new bureaucratic hurdle to be passed before the Department keeps its promise to appoint a design team in the third quarter of this year?

The former Minister for Education and Science visited the school when two pupils, John D. O'Callaghan and Liam McCarthy, won the European Competition for Young Scientists, having already won the Irish Young Scientist competition with their project on testing milk quality. The Minister will recall that three years earlier in 2006 another Kinsale community school pupil, Aisling Judge, won the Irish Young Scientist competition with a project on food hygiene.

In January 2008, I visited the school with my party leader, Deputy Kenny, who was very impressed with the excellent service it provides to the community in Kinsale despite the cramped conditions in which it must operate. I ask for a completion date for the sake of the 762 pupils of the school. The school provides services for the whole community of Kinsale six days per week from early in the morning to late every evening. I am told that the school is not allowed to replace its second caretaker, who retired during the summer, even though it is operating at double capacity. I ask that an exemption be made in this case.

How would the Department fare if we had an education quality standards authority that was similar to the Health Information and Quality Authority? This school is overcrowded in every classroom and corridor. It is unhealthy for its children to be confined to one classroom from nine o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon, especially on wet days. The school is operating at nearly twice its design capacity. On health and safety grounds I ask that its application be prioritised and completed as a matter of urgency. Schools projects are delayed for many reasons but in the present environment of building costs it might opportune to prioritise this project and finish at least one school project ahead of schedule. This school has proved itself to be an excellent provider for all its pupils and its community but it needs the space to house all its pupils and to give them a good start in life. It does not need further bureaucratic delays. I ask that the extension be built without delay.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Sheehan as ucht an ábhair seo a ardú inniu. I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Coughlan. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in school building projects and also to outline the current position regarding Kinsale community school.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth present a significant challenge. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. The allocation of funding for school buildings in 2010 is a little under €579 million. This represents a significant investment in the schools building and modernisation programme. This level of funding at a time of great pressure on public finances is a sign of the Government's commitment to investing in school infrastructure and it will permit the continuation of the Department's programme of sustained investment in primary and post primary schools.

All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity, etc., and leads to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band one is the highest and band four the lowest. Band one projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exists but there is a high demand for pupil places, while a band four project makes provision for desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities, such as a library or new sports hall.

The project for Kinsale community school has been assigned a band rating of 2.1 under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. A band rating of 2.1 means there is a deficit of mainstream accommodation in the school and the deficit constitutes a substantial and significant proportion of the school's overall accommodation needs.

All major projects on the Department's capital programme progress through the same structured process of architectural planning, which is divided into clearly defined stages. There are five stages involved in the progression of major school building projects through architectural planning. These stages are set out in the Department's design team procedures and are necessary to comply with Department of Finance guidelines which require that capital projects be fully designed prior to going to tender. They also ensure proper cost management of capital projects and facilitate compliance with statutory and public procurement requirements.

The project for Kinsale community school was announced earlier this year for the appointment of a design team. Subsequently, the National Council for Special Education advised the Department of Education and Skills of the need for an autistic spectrum disorders unit at post-primary level in that catchment area. A revised schedule of accommodation providing for additional accommodation for such a unit was issued to the school at the end of August.

The tender process for appointment of a design team for Kinsale community school will commence shortly as part of a bundle of schools tendering in the coming weeks. The brief for the project includes the construction of an extension of approximately 4,500 sq. m. plus associated refurbishment and site works. This brief will provide suitable accommodation for a long-term projected enrolment of up to 850 pupils in Kinsale community school.

The progression of all large scale building projects, including this one, from initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme for 2011 and subsequent years. However, in light of competing demands on the capital budget of the Department and taking into account the early stage at which this project currently stands, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project to completion of tender and construction.

Proposed Legislation

I recognise the significant effect new motorways have on businesses that have been bypassed and the refusal of the NRA to allow for signage to promote those businesses. I call on the Government to make amendments to the Valuation Act 2001 to state the bypassing of a property represents a material change of circumstances, as defined in section 3 of the Act. Valuations for rating purposes are made in accordance with the Valuation Act 2001. The Act confers authority to revise valuations on a revision officer only in instances where there has been a material change of circumstances. These are defined in section 3. They encompass circumstances where the structure or neighbouring structure has been rebuilt, or where a structure has for some reason been closed down or damaged by fire, for example. A material change, therefore, must be of a physical nature. The circumstances to which I refer concern a physical change, but not to the building subject to rates. A change in turnover or a decline in the level of business activity would be insufficient, I am told, to warrant the authorisation of a revision of a valuation. As neither of these events is a material change of circumstances as defined in the Act, the Act is too limited. It is a great problem that the Government and institutions of State cannot react to evolving circumstances.

Our road network is unrecognisable by comparison to that of ten years ago. I and most people are delighted with that. The new roads are safer, better for business and are wonderful but we must think of the businesses along the old routes, including a number of businesses on the old N8 in Tipperary, which has been bypassed by the M8, the Portlaoise-Cork road. Business has declined by 90% because of the bypass. Surely this is unfair.

I acknowledge that the new road was completed ahead of schedule and within budget. A wonderful job was done and we all say that is fine. While there was public consultation in the design of the new road, the county council officials and the NRA are totally intransigent in not allowing for any limited signage, although the council came up with a design for the signage. I refer to off-road signage that would not be on the roadway. I see how unfair circumstances are when I go to Cork, Limerick, Portlaoise, the other side of Tipperary and right up to Dublin, where there is signage everywhere. The system is not being implemented fairly.

Rate-paying business people, entrepreneurs, are affected. A landmark hotel, Kilcoran Lodge Hotel, was employing 40 people. Deputy P. J. Sheehan, who has now left the Chamber, always used to stop there. He told me he was only half way to Dublin when he reached Kilcoran. I am sure many of us have been there. The hotel employs many people but cannot survive. It cannot pay the huge rates. There ought to be some recognition of their plight. People from the town of Cahir going to transact business at the hotel end up on the motorway and cannot get off it until they get to Mitchelstown, which is a long distance away. This is very frustrating.

The hotel had a rate review recently. One must apply for a rate review through the national body. It costs €250 but one is adjudicated by the body that set the rate in the first instance. There is no independence or fairness. The rate reviewers say the hotel is as it was, is fine and grand. They are flippant about it but that is not acceptable. We must have an independent review body for everybody. It should not be the body that sets the rates.

There is a wonderful shop and filling station that sells light refreshments for the traveller and others in the village of Skeheenarinky. Some 90% of its business has been wiped away. I have had meetings with council officials and they have no understanding of the sheer loss of business and do not accept that if the local authority takes away one's business, that same local authority should not expect to have rates paid to it. One often heard the saying that one cannot get blood from a stone.

The tools of the trade have been denied to the people to whom I refer. They have a right to make a living, pay their staff, and pay their PRSI and taxes, which they always did diligently. They always provided good employment but their opportunities have been taken from them. They have been blindfolded and handcuffed behind their backs and they are not allowed to transact their business.

There will have to be changes to the Act. I appeal to the Minister, the Department of Finance, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and local authorities to examine the review system as it is unfair. It is not fair that those who set the rates review the rates. Surely there should be an independent body to review the rates for premises.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo.

The Valuation Act 2001, which came into effect on 2 May 2002 provides that all buildings used or developed for any purpose including constructions affixed thereto are rateable. In regard to the Valuation Act 2001, the commissioner of valuation is independent in the exercise of his duties under the Act, and the Minister for Finance has no function in decisions in this regard.

Under section 28(4) of the Valuation Act 2001, a revision officer of the valuation commissioner may carry out a revision of valuation in regard to a particular property only if a material change of circumstances has occurred since the property was last revised. A material change is defined in section 3 of the Act as a change of circumstances which consists of a new building, a change in value due to structural alterations of an existing building, total or partial demolition of a building or a sub-division or amalgamation of relevant property. The definition does not allow for a revision of valuation where the change in value is due to economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as roads or other infrastructural development in the vicinity of a property. The valuation of commercial property is determined by reference to the values of comparable properties on the same valuation list.

That is to say they are compared to similar properties in the same local authority area to ensure, in so far as it is possible, that they are all treated equally. Therefore, while external factors such as roads or other infrastructural development in the vicinity of a property have no impact on valuations determined at revision, they can by their nature have either a positive or negative effect on a business. For example, new motorways are allowing greater numbers of people to travel to outlying areas, bringing potential for increased trading. While some businesses may have been bypassed by the new motorways, on the whole, the new road system has received a general welcome throughout the country and could be seen to have a generally beneficial effect on businesses. Similarly, the valuations of commercial enterprises that have benefited from infrastructural developments have not been increased.

It is generally recognised that bypasses give the bypassed towns back to their communities; these towns have thrived in the absence of daily traffic jams, lack of parking, and the general hassle of trying to do business in such a congested environment. Bypasses improve accessibility for whole regions, reduce travel times and transport costs and make journey times more predictable. All this adds rather than detracts from the prospects for economic development in a region.

In regard to signage on roads, spatial planning and national roads guidelines were recently published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The guidelines indicate that the erection of advertising signage is tightly regulated for road safety and environmental reasons. Regulation of signage on national roads ensures that the information needs and safety considerations of road users can be fully and properly catered for. However, the authority's practice is to erect white-on-brown tourist signs identifying the town or village and including, as appropriate, symbols indicating the principal facilities and services available in the locations concerned.

It is at a revaluation that economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as roads or other infrastructural development in the vicinity of a property are accounted for in the valuation process.

With regard to the national revaluation programme, I am glad to report that steady progress is being made. In a typical revaluation of all the commercial properties in a local authority area, the entire list is brought up to date by reference to values at a specific date and the list is then published on one date, usually 31 December, and comes into effect on 1 January the following year. To date, revaluations have been completed in south Dublin and Fingal county council areas and the revaluation of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is nearing completion. In the next phase, it is intended to roll out the programme to a further local authority in the coming months and the necessary process of consultation, as provided for under the Act, is under way.

The Valuation Act 2001 has been in operation for eight years and the commissioner has now decided to initiate an internal review of the statute. The various provisions in the Act are being examined from a number of perspectives in the light of experience and the implications of judgments emanating from the valuation tribunal and the courts over the past seven years. In the context of this review, I will ask the commissioner to consider the matters raised by the Deputy.

Regional Airports

The Minister, given where he comes from, will understand the importance of access to the regions in parts of the country that are isolated from large population centres and which are and have for some time been heavily reliant on air access.

I raise this issue because I am concerned that the subvention system in place to support the six regional airports I will mention is surrounded with uncertainty.

The budget that has been committed to most of the regional airports is clearly grossly inadequate to even allow some of them to remain open beyond the end of this year.

It is fair to say that the management and boards at all six regional airports have made huge efforts to reduce costs and to make the airports more cost effective and efficient. This is reflected in the fact that the Opex subvention budget, which is operational current expenditure, has reduced year on year over the past number of years. The cut so far this year has been dramatic.

The Minister when replying to questions in the Dáil last week gave me the following figures. Last year, Galway Airport received an operational subvention of €962,000. So far this year it has received approval for only €582,000. The figure for Sligo Airport has reduced from more than €300,000 to €150,000 so far. While the figure for Donegal Airport for last year was €131,000 it has received nothing so far this year. The figure for Knock Airport has reduced from €445,000 to €350,000. The figure for Waterford Airport has been most dramatic with a reduction from €1.5 million last year to just over €600,000 so far this year. The amounts allocated this year so far have more than halved. The Minister would neither confirm nor deny that extra money will be found and approved by the Department of Finance to at least ensure all six regional airports remain open into next year until we have had a proper and honest debate on the future of regional airports, the impact of the end of this tranche of the PSO levy next summer and whether a new PSO will be introduced by Government and so on.

It would be inexcusable to cut budgets in a salami type manner with everybody taking a small cut year on year and month after month and to expect airports to remain open. I am seeking from the Minister this evening an assurance that the Department of Transport, in consultation with the Department of Finance, will assure the public in regions like Galway, Kerry, Sligo, Donegal, Knock and Waterford that their airports will remain open into next year and that the relatively modest operational subvention budgets required to do so will be found, even in these difficult times.

I understand that some of the airports received a letter today from the Department of Transport asking them to revise their budgets with a view to a top-up payment between now and the end of the year. We need to provide budgetary certainty for the running of these airports so they can plan for the cost cutting that may be necessary and be in a position to give a guarantee to airlines and the public that they have a future. If they cannot do this, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Airlines that do not believe there is a future for an airport will not expand or commit to future routes at those airports. Likewise, the public will not book flights from those airports.

I would like a commitment from the Minister, which will provide reassurance and confidence to the communities in these regions that rely on an important airlink, that their airports will remain open into next year and that the relatively modest top-up budgets involved in this regard, in terms of operational subvention, will be provided by the Government.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Coveney as ucht an t-ábhar seo a ardú inniu.

The scheme to which the Deputy refers was introduced in 2006 in response to new mandatory EU guidelines on the provision of public funding for airports, including regional airports. Under this scheme, the regional airports may be considered for annual subvention in respect of operating costs incurred in providing core airport services, to the extent that these cannot be met by prudent commercial management and by any surpluses available from other sources such as carparking charges and catering.

In view of a projected shortfall in the resources available to fund this scheme, after allowing for estimated requirements for the PSO Air Services Programme for 2010, the regional airports were allocated operational expenditure or Opex funding on a pro rata basis in July of this year, with no airport getting the full amount it might otherwise expect. This allocation was in line with the Opex contracts with the airports. However, the Minister for Transport is very much aware that several events have impacted on the regional airports since this year’s applications for funding were received and that payments at the reduced level have been causing difficulties for them. To that end, the Department of Transport has been monitoring the position with management at each of the airports. In recognition of those difficulties, the Minister for Transport has decided to provide additional funding for the scheme for 2010.

The airports have been invited to submit additional information in support of their applications for funding. This updated information will be re-assessed by the Department of Transport in accordance with the terms of the scheme and allocations will be made accordingly. As the Deputy will be aware, the Value for Money Review of Exchequer Expenditure on the Regional Airports Programme, including the Opex scheme, has been completed and is at present being considered by the Government. It is expected that, in light of that review, decisions on funding for regional airports in future years will be made in the context of the Estimates and budget process later this year.

With changes in EU legislation, the substantial investment in surface transport, the completion of this review and the requirement to make best use of scarce Exchequer resources, the focus for the future will be on ensuring the sustainability of a strong network of regional airports servicing the Irish public, both in terms of business and tourism.

Marriages of Convenience

I did not think it would be a responsibility of the Minister for Defence to defend these sham marriages.

I am sure the Minister will give an appropriate reply.

I read recently that a Latvian NGO that offers support to victims of human trafficking claims there has seen an avalanche of sham marriages during the past year. It also claims that Ireland and Cyprus are the two countries where Latvian sham marriages are most common. I am fully aware this is not an easy problem with which to deal given the State must meet its responsibilities under EU law to guarantee free movement to the spouses of EU citizens and is also prevented from undertaking systematic checks of particular nationalities.

The reality is that the EU directive on free movement is being exploited. Since the directive became law in 2006 the number of people in Ireland applying for residency rights, based on marriage to an EU citizen, has increased from 1,206 in 2006 to 2,129 in 2009. Every effort must be made to try to prevent these sham marriages taking place. It will take an EU-wide approach to achieve this. My colleague, Deputy Naughten, has sought to have the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 amended to give registrars more power to interview prospective brides and grooms and to block any marriages they deem to be shams. This is a reasonable amendment which should be made immediately. The law needs to be changed to give registrars, the people performing these ceremonies, the powers to block until they are satisfied, through various checks, that a genuine marriage is taking place.

Many developed countries have introduced tough laws making it a criminal offence to enter into a sham marriage in order to circumvent immigration laws. In this regard, the US law imposes a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000. I will give an example of the tragedy of these marriages. An article I read in relation to the Shelter Safe House, an NGO looking after Latvian women following their return to Latvia, gave an example of an 18 year old woman who was promised a job in a shop in Ireland by a friend living in Ireland who had an Indian boyfriend. When she arrived in Dublin she was allowed to stay in their house but no job materialised. After some time, her friend's boyfriend told her she had to marry his friend to pay him back for board and lodgings. She was put under a lot of pressure and because she had no one to turn to in a foreign country she agreed. She has since returned to Latvia where she has found a boyfriend she loves and is pregnant.

She wants to marry him but cannot do so because she is already married. This girl is 18 years old and she was conned into a marriage here. I am ashamed that this type of thing is happening in Ireland, particularly in respect of people of certain nationalities.

As stated previously, an EU-wide approach is required to deal with this extremely serious problem. I ask the Minister to ensure the matter is raised at the next EU Council of Ministers with a view to achieving a common approach. If such an approach is not taken, the institution of marriage, which is protected under the Constitution, will be seriously undermined.

The Latvian authorities recently suggested that Ireland has been dragging its feet and has ignored calls to deal with the abuse, through marriages of the kind to which I refer, of Latvian citizens living here. That is a serious allegation which could have major consequences on our international reputation. It is incomprehensible that a request from any county to eradicate the practice of sham marriages would be ignored. It is essential that this allegation be investigated fully and that the exact nature of what occurred be determined.

Ireland prides itself on being an equitable nation. Any suggestion that sham marriages were either not taken seriously or, worse still, ignored would paint us in a damagingly negative light on the world stage. The exploitation by one person of another should never be tolerated in a civilised society. If the Latvian authorities claim their requests to have the abuse of their citizens in Ireland stamped out were ignored, we must discover why.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this matter and I sincerely hope the Minister will take on board the serious nature of it.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teacht Barrett as ucht an ábhar seo a chur faoi bhráid na Dála agus deis a thabhairt dom freagra a thabhairt ar son an Aire Dlí agus Cirt agus Athchóirithe Dlí.

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Law Reform and I welcome the opportunity to deal with the issue of marriages of convenience contracted for the purposes of exploiting the terms of the directive on free movement and, in particular, the involvement of Latvian citizens. This is a matter which has received significant recent publicity but has long been a concern for the Minister and the immigration authorities and their colleagues involved in marriage registration.

Free movement is a fundamental right in the EU. Under EU free movement rules, once an EU citizen exercises his or her entitlement to move to and live in a member state other than that of which he or she is a national, he or she is entitled to be accompanied or joined by his or her non-EEA family members. Crucially, this includes persons whom such people subsequently marry, irrespective of their immigration status.

Prior to the Metock judgment in 2008, Ireland had in place a rule that granted EU treaty rights only to non-EEA family members with prior lawful residence in another EU member state. This provision, had it not been struck down, would have excluded virtually all of the types of cases currently being highlighted from benefiting under the directive.

The Minister is surprised by the contention that Ireland has been passive on this issue. This is not the message we are getting from the Latvian authorities. The latter have expressed their appreciation of the measures the State is taking and there has been considerable operational co-operation between the Garda National Immigration Bureau and its colleagues in the Latvian police force.

Far from being passive, no member state has been as active as Ireland on this matter at Justice and Home Affairs Council meetings. The Minister has personally raised the issue at the highest level at EU meetings on a number of occasions as far back as September 2008, within weeks of the judgment being handed down. He has raised his concerns at successive EU Presidency meetings of JHA Ministers in the intervening period. However, the Minister received little support at the time from his colleagues from other member states. The Department has had ongoing concerns since the Metock case precisely because it could see the huge potential for abuse of the directive and the extent to which the ruling effectively set aside immigration control in respect of family members of EU nationals. The Department's experience is that the directive is now regarded by non-EU and EEA persons seeking to circumvent immigration controls as an unrestricted means to regularise their immigration status in the wider EU.

While the European Commission has set out guidelines for dealing with the issue, the balance of advantage is very much with the applicant and the onus of proof lies with the member state. This is why Ireland and some other member states have called for an amendment to the directive to restore the pre-Metock position. Ireland remains strongly of the opinion that amendments to the directive are necessary and that it should remain under continuing review at the Council of Ministers. We continue to seek the support of other member states, including those whose citizens are involved in suspect marriages. However, the difficulty of achieving such amendments must be acknowledged. The Department will continue to highlight this issue at every opportunity, including directly with the Commission when it visits Ireland later this year to assess our implementation of the directive.

Marriages of convenience are, of their nature, difficult to detect. Final determination as to the validity of marriage-based claims in this area can be made only after an in-depth examination of the particular circumstances of each individual case. The directive prohibits systematic checks.

On the domestic front, both the Department and An Garda Síochána have been taking steps to address this issue. I congratulate the Garda on the ongoing success of Operation Charity. This operation, which was launched by the Garda National Immigration Bureau in November 2009, has so far prevented 80 marriages of convenience from taking place through the issuing of objections to registrars to planned marriages which it is suspected may be marriages of convenience. The bureau has also made 16 arrests in this period for alleged offences including bigamy, the production of false documentation and illegal residence in Ireland. There is valuable ongoing co-operation between the bureau and the organised crime enforcement department of Latvia, which is the member state of origin of the majority of EU citizens involved in suspect marriages. There shortly will be a meeting under the auspices of Eurojust in The Hague between the Latvian state police and the Irish authorities to discuss information exchange and co-ordinating investigation activities relating to suspected marriages of convenience.

In the longer term, the Minister will seek to further address the issue through legislation. The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2010, currently before the House, proposes, inter alia, to allow the Minister, in making his determination of any immigration matter, to disregard a particular marriage as a factor bearing on that determination where it is deemed the union is a marriage of convenience. The criminalisation of the contracting of marriages of convenience was considered in the context of the Bill but difficulties are presented by the strong constitutional protection for marriage in Ireland and the issue of enforcement.

The Minister particularly welcomes the updated guidelines for registrars for marriage notifications, which issued to all superintendent registrars in Ireland on 2 September. These new guidelines include stricter conditions on proof of identity which will require applicants for marriage to provide letters of authentication of birth certificates from their embassies. This requirement will, in most cases, bring the proposed marriage to the notice of the authorities of the member state of the EU citizen in question and afford them an opportunity to outline the risks involved. The Minister is of the view that this measure alone could have a significant impact on the number of suspect marriages. This is also the view of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with which the Irish authorities have been in contact through our embassy in Riga. As recently as last week, the Latvian Ministry thanked the relevant authorities here for the steps being taken to tackle this abuse and pledged their continuing co-operation with both the Minister's Department and the Garda to end the exploitation which is at the root of this matter. The Minister has also instructed his officials to examine afresh the processes in place in the Department for approval and assessment of these applications. Arising from that review, other steps may well need to be taken to tighten up the procedures.

There is no quick fix solution to this problem. A combination of actions, including prevention, ensuring that marriages of convenience are disregarded in immigration decisions and police co-operation, will be required. Ultimately, the Minister believes there is a need for legislative action at EU level.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 13 October 2010.
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