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Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 26 Apr 2007

Vol. 186 No. 23

Adjournment Matters.

Citizenship Applications.

This is a serious matter and I am glad that the Minister of State who heard my opinions on the Criminal Justice Bill is here because I made the point that this is all of a piece with the situation wherein a citizen of this country, presumed innocent, can be brought before a court and, effectively, jailed for seven days on the word of a garda who is immune from cross-examination and does not have to reveal his or her reasons.

I am involved in a case concerning a young man who is here in the House. I wish the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, were here so I could point out that this is the person of whom he has such an extraordinary and irrational fear. The man is a friend of mine and my partner, Tevfik. My attention was brought to the fact that a difficulty had ensued when he applied for naturalisation. If the Minister's response is not completely favourable, I propose to pursue this matter through the courts because an extraordinarily dangerous precedent has been set.

The young man in question is a respectable professional from Algeria in north Africa. He is an architect by profession and his brother, his brother's wife and her family live here. Having been accepted as an asylum seeker, he has been legitimately in the country as a refugee for a considerable number of years. After the statutory period of years elapsed, he applied for naturalisation and a decision was made by an assistant principal in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to refuse the application. In the documentation sent to him he was informed he could appeal the decision and when considering making a re-application he should "give due regard to the reasons for refusal given in the attached submission". The document was signed by Joan Brown from the citizenship section. In other words, he could appeal the decision but ought to include the reasons for the refusal. Naturally, he requested details of the reasons for the refusal but, astonishingly, his request was refused. He pursued the matter under the Freedom of Information Act and was again refused.

I wonder what country we are living in. This is Kafkaesque. If a person who is a resident of the country is such a danger, why was it considered appropriate that he be given refugee status? I have pursued the cavalier refusal to grant his application as much as I could and was more or less warned off the case. It was indicated to me that I did not want to know but I do want to know, as does the gentleman in question. I have asked him at every stage of this process whether there is any matter, including of a criminal nature, in his background of which he is ashamed or if he has any links to so-called Islamic terrorist groups. He has assured me again and again that this is not the case. His only crime that I can determine is that he is from a Muslim background. He has told me he wants to know of what he is accused in order that he can defend his good name and reputation. I wonder what has been put into the system and what is the reason for the refusal of the citizenship application.

This case is reminiscent of a series of other cases dating back to the Dreyfus case and constitutes a clear breach of natural justice. I assume there has been a mistake but it is not one for which the gentleman in question should pay. If the Minister can produce a scrap of evidence, I demand he place it before the House. My informant, the person in question, has indicated to me that he is happy to answer any questions. Let us get to the bottom of this case and ascertain what black mark there is against him. Let us see if he can explain it because I believe he can. If he cannot do so, that is a different matter.

I believe a serious, fundamental matter of human rights is once again being broached today. I seriously distrust the professionalism of those engaged in the relevant section of the Department. I receive complaint after complaint about it and it is simply not good enough. I await with interest the Minister of State's response. I shall, with my informant's consent and encouragement, take this matter further if it is not satisfactorily resolved today.

The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform may, in his or her absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are that the applicant must be of full age, or by way of exception, be a minor born in the State; be of good character; have had a period of one year's continuous residency in the State immediately before the date of the application and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the State amounting to four years; intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation; and have made a declaration in the prescribed manner of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State either before a judge of the District Court in open court or in such a manner as the Minister, for special reasons, allows.

In the context of naturalisation, certain periods of residence in the State are excluded. These include periods of residence in respect of which an applicant does not have permission to remain in the State, periods granted for the purposes of study and periods granted for the purposes of seeking recognition as a refugee within the meaning of the Refugee Act 1996.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is an honour. Applications must be processed in a manner which preserves the necessary checks and balances to ensure citizenship is not undervalued and is given only to persons who are suitably qualified. Upon receipt, each application is examined to determine if the statutory application is completed fully. It should be noted that approximately one third of all applications for naturalisation received are not completed correctly, necessitating the forms and accompanying documentation being returned to the applicant with an explanation of the problem involved. Valid applications are examined to determine if the applicant meets the statutory residency criteria set out in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. Passports and other documentation are examined in detail and inquiries with the Garda National Immigration Bureau may also be necessary.

Since this procedure was introduced on 1 April 2005, more than 1,500 applicants who applied since that date have been found to have insufficient residency in the State for the purposes of naturalisation. All such applicants are informed of any shortfall in their residency and will be able to re-apply when they have the required residency.

The next stage of the process involves assessing an applicant's financial status in respect of his or her ability to support himself or herself in the State. Inquiries with the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social and Family Affairs may be necessary in this regard. At the same time, inquiries are also made with the Garda Síochána to ascertain if the applicant can be deemed to be of good character. There may also be circumstances in individual cases which require a greater level of investigation than other cases.

Once all inquiries have been completed, the file is referred to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a decision. These procedures have been developed and refined over a number of years and the Tánaiste is satisfied they are necessary to maintain the integrity of the naturalisation process. The Senator will appreciate that these processes can, by their nature, take quite some time to complete.

The person referred to in the Senator's question arrived in the State on 27 July 2001. On 30 July 2001 he applied for asylum. His application was refused by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner on 12 April 2002. On appeal, this decision was set aside by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and the person in question was declared a refugee under section 17 of the Refugee Act 1996, as amended, on 19 February 2003. On 28 October 2004, he made an application for the granting of a certificate of naturalisation. This application was considered under the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 and 1986 and the Minister decided on 8 March 2006 not to grant naturalisation. A copy of the submission prepared by officials in the Department at the time was forwarded to the applicant for his information.

In reaching his decision the Minister exercised the absolute discretion as provided by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts. While the said Acts do not provide for a formal process of appeal of his decision to refuse naturalisation, the Minister is obliged to make the reasons for his decision available to the applicant under the provisions of section 18 of the Freedom of Information Act 1997. The Minister understands the applicant submitted a request under the Act for records held by his Department in this matter and a decision on that request was communicated to him on 15 May 2006. If, following an examination of the copy of his or her case file, an applicant considers the Minister's decision has been based on incorrect or incomplete information, it is open to him or her to seek a review of that decision.

The applicant was also informed that he may re-apply for the grant of a certificate of naturalisation at any time and the Minister understands a second application was lodged in the citizenship section of his Department on 23 March 2006. That section is processing applications made in the latter half of 2004. Applications are dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed fairest to all applicants and the individual in question might therefore expect to receive a decision in his case in the latter half of next year.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, the last paragraph of which was helpful. The antepenultimate paragraph of the reply states, "A copy of the submission prepared by officials of the Department at the time was forwarded to the applicant for his information." I have just confirmed with the person involved, who is present in the Visitor's Gallery, that it was not forwarded to him.

The Minister of State has not addressed the subject of the matter, which was the need for the Minister to provide the information, which he has not done. There has been some back-tracking. The Minister of State said, "If ... an applicant considers the Minister's decision has been based on incorrect or incomplete information, it is open to him or her to seek a review of that decision." We are seeking such a review.

The Minister of State should take back to the persons responsible in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform that it is not good enough in a 21st century European democracy to behave in this Kafkaesque way. The gentleman in the Visitor's Gallery demands to know who put a black mark against him and what is that black mark. I want the officials in the Department to know I will pursue this matter to the bitter end. Woe for them if they have behaved wrongly because, if I cannot get an answer in the Oireachtas, I will make sure in the courts of this land that I get an answer in justice and decency for all the people in this country.

Hereditary Disorders.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Haemochromatosis is an hereditary and potentially life-threatening disorder which affects a considerable number of Irish people. While it can be asymptomatic for years, it has the potential in the absence of detection and treatment to cause death at a relatively early age. The condition is the most commonly inherited autosomal recessive disorder in the white population, with a prevalence of 0.2% to 0.5% in those of northern European origin, particularly Nordic or Celtic people, in whom it occurs with a prevalence of one in 200 of the population.

The condition causes the excessive absorption of dietary iron and a progressive increase in total body iron stores. The accumulation of iron takes place in the liver, the pancreas, the heart and the anterior pituitary gland, causing life-threatening conditions such as cirrhosis, diabetes, cardiac failure and arrhythmia, and cancer of the liver. Other manifestations include skin pigmentation, destructive arthritis and hypogonadism. Many people in Ireland find out they have hereditary haemochromatosis when they are diagnosed with another condition, for example, diabetes.

The risk of mortality increases rapidly in men over 45 years of age and women over 55 who suffer from this condition and who are not given treatment. The Minister for Health and Children set up a working group in March 2006 to examine the condition. This group, chaired by the former Senator, Dr. Maurice Manning, took a great deal of effort and reported rapidly, in June 2006. It was asked to establish the extent of haemochromatosis in this country, examine the possibilities of screening, consider the need for screening and its implications, and so on. The group concluded that, as one in every ten people here has a single mutated gene and one in every few hundred has two, screening to identify asymptomatic persons in whom iron indices are elevated by hereditary haemochromatosis should be recommended as a potentially cost-effective strategy for preventing hereditary haemochromatosis and associated morbidity and mortality.

A blood test is all that is required. If the transfer and saturation is greater than 45% most cases will be diagnosed. This has been shown to be effective in nearly 98% of cases in a country such as Australia. In chapter 3 of its report, the group recommends that funding should be made available immediately to screen 10,000 subjects in order to consider the issue in detail. A public awareness campaign of the condition should be also instituted and it was suggested the Irish Haemochromatosis Association could play a lead a role in this. It is also very important that the Irish College of General Practitioners should be involved in this education process.

People frequently visit their doctors suffering from lethargy or self-prescribe iron for themselves. As the Minister of State will know, lethargy is one of the symptoms of haemochromatosis but it is sometimes suspected the person has anaemia and iron is prescribed or is taken by the person, making his or her condition worse. Also, some people take iron-fortified food, not realising that this will have a deleterious effect on their health. It would be beneficial if the public were told about this as the disease would become better known. It was suggested that doses of iron over 60 mg should be made available by prescription only.

There are further recommendations regarding the prevention of discrimination against hereditary haemochromatosis sufferers by life insurance companies, where people have treatment and are then considered unsuitable for life insurance. If they are making an effort to address this life-threatening condition, they should not be discriminated against. It is suggested that the same should apply to health insurance policies. It was also suggested that the Voluntary Health Insurance board should be asked to review its policy whereby members who are diagnosed must wait for five years for cover for venesection, which is the treatment that is needed. Venesection is expensive. Rather than having either the VHI or the patient paying for this, the group also recommended it should be paid for by the State and carried out by general practitioners, which would mean hospital attendance would be avoided by these patients.

Only one recommendation has been brought forward and it is the only one which did not require action by the Department of Health and Children. One of the recommendations asked the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to review its policy regarding refusing to take blood from the venesection procedures that haemochromatosis sufferers must undertake. It has decided to have a pilot scheme in its Stillorgan centre to take blood from these people rather than having it wasted. As far as I can discover, that is the only recommendation that has been progressed.

When we debated today's motion on the commission to investigate the Leas Cross nursing home affair, I said it was fine setting up a commission but all I expected was another report on which nothing would happen. I have seen repeatedly in this House that reports are produced and we seem to think we have done something. Nothing happens unless we do something about the recommendations. We either dismiss them or we decide whether they are to be acted on. It is unfortunate that a committee that worked so rapidly and produced this excellent report has had its report sidelined in a similar way to all the other reports I have seen coming into this House in the past 15 years. I doubt if even 2% of them have been acted on.

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. Early last year, the Minister established a working group to examine the nature and extent of haemochromatosis and to provide advice on the actions necessary to address the problems caused by the condition. The group, which was chaired by Mr. Maurice Manning, reported with 20 recommendations in June last year. Since then, progress has been made in a number of areas.

A key issue highlighted in the report was that blood from persons with haemochromatosis was not being used by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, IBTS. The IBTS has re-examined its policy on this issue and has decided to establish a pilot venesection programme for haemochromatosis patients in one of its clinics. Subject to the usual screening protocols, blood from these patients will be used by the IBTS. A clinician has been appointed to one of the IBTS clinics to oversee the pilot programme.

Department of Health and Children officials contacted the Irish Insurance Federation with regard to problems some people had encountered regarding insurance once they were diagnosed with the condition. The federation has agreed to investigate any complaint about life or health insurance cover linked to diagnosis with haemochromatosis. Department officials met representatives of the population health directorate of the Health Service Executive last year to progress the relevant recommendations in the report, especially those relating to health promotion and awareness. Work continues in this regard and another meeting will take place in the coming weeks between senior management of the HSE and Department of Health and Children. The provision of appropriate venesection services will be a key issue for examination by this group.

The report was also sent to the Irish College of General Practitioners to ensure that general practitioners had up-to-date information on the matter. The Irish Haemochromatosis Association has also been in contact with the college. For its part, that association continues to increase awareness among both clinicians and patients of the issues related to the condition. On behalf of the Minister, I pay tribute to the association which has held a range of seminars throughout the country and has also updated a patient information booklet on the subject, which has been circulated to its 900 members. The Minister is confident that over the coming months, further progress will be made on implementing the recommendations in the working group's report.

Once again, most of the action has been taken by bodies outside the House and the Department. I suggest it would be a good idea to work on getting the pilot scheme to the point where 10,000 people are screened.

Schools Building Projects.

Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice founded the Christian Brothers and set up his first school in Waterford at Mount Sion. Although I am a De La Salle man, I am deeply proud of the Christian Brothers' beginnings and traditions and of Mount Sion and the host of luminaries it has produced in the academic, political and sporting fields in County Waterford and the country.

The board of management, the principal, the teachers and the parents of children attending Mount Sion secondary school were told more than five years ago that they would get a new school and that this school was at pre-tender stage. The then Minister, Deputy Woods, when opening the Abbey community school in Ferrybank in Waterford, announced that moneys had been allocated for four other new schools in Waterford city and county, including Mount Sion secondary school. However, Mount Sion is the only one of the four not to have received the green light to proceed with its new school. With all due respect to Department officials, those connected with Mount Sion have been fobbed off with promises from them and politicians as to when their school will commence. It is questionable whether they will even get the go ahead at this stage.

In a meeting with a high-ranking Department official in January 2005, representatives from Mount Sion were assured they would get the go ahead for the new school. At another meeting in January 2006, they were assured the new school was "a priority issue" and had the highest rating. The school's representatives sought a meeting with the Department again in 2007, but no meeting has been granted as yet. They were told they would have a technical visit from an official by March 2007, but that has not taken place to date.

There are serious health and safety deficiencies in the current school which require urgent attention. The school authorities need to know whether they will get their new school and when they will get the go ahead to start building. The site is available and everything is in place. All they need is a green light from the Department. The school has no PE hall, no modern facilities and will die unless permission is granted to proceed immediately. It may be suggested that falling numbers are the reason for the delay, but what else can be expected if a school cannot provide the modern day requirements for which the school's excellent staff are crying out?

It would be a shame to see this school founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice fade out of existence because of false promises and a lack of urgency by the Department of Education and Science and its political masters. The people of Waterford and people throughout the world who support the Christian Brothers will not stand for this treatment of a fine school which has contributed so much to the nation. I earnestly hope an announcement allowing the commencement of the new school will be made without further delay.

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the strategy of the Department of Education and Science for capital investment in education projects and the current position with regard to capital funding for Mount Sion secondary school, Waterford.

Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, since taking office, the Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

The Government has dramatically increased investment in the schools building programme from just over €90 million when it came into office to €540 million this year. Under the lifetime of the national development plan, almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools.

This year, more than €300 million will be invested in large-scale building projects, concentrated mainly on the provision of school accommodation in rapidly developing areas. This level of funding will facilitate construction work on more than 150 large-scale projects which will deliver more than 15,000 additional permanent places in new schools and the extension and modernisation of facilities in existing schools for more than 45,000 pupils. It will also enable the purchase of sites to facilitate the smooth delivery of the schools building programme, again with the focus being on site requirements in rapidly developing areas. The balance will be used to fund the other elements of the schools building programme such as the summer works scheme, the small schools scheme, the permanent accommodation scheme, etc. In total more than 1,500 school building projects will be delivered in 2007.

With regard to Mount Sion secondary school, the Department is in receipt of an application for major capital funding from the management authority of that school. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale works and has been assigned a band 2 rating. The Department recognises the historic significance of the school in the provision of education by the Christian Brothers in the country and accepts that the building is not in a good condition. In this regard, a technical inspection recommended that consideration be given to the construction of a new school on the site rather than refurbishment of the existing school. However, the site is very difficult and a significant amount of abnormal costs would arise in its development. Progress on the proposed works was, however, put on hold due to the declining enrolments at the school. The Department is concerned about this and particularly the school's ability to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum.

The possibility of an amalgamation with the second Christian Brothers school in Waterford, which also has declining numbers, has been mooted. The Department awaits clarification from the trustees of their position on this proposal. When this is known it will consider how to proceed, taking into account the long-term post primary school accommodation requirements for Waterford City.

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this matter.

With all due respect to the Minister of State, his response included several red herrings regarding other schools. Mount Sion wants to know if and when it will get its new school. The Government is obviously not going to answer that question although the former Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Woods, announced the money for it more than five years ago. It is a disgrace that a school set up by Brother Ignatius Rice is treated in such a manner and that it receives false promises which are crippling the fabric of the secondary school in Mount Sion. It is unfortunate it is being fobbed off again today.

The Seanad adjourned at 4.32 p.m. until2 p.m. on Friday, 27 April 2007.
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