Ned O'Keeffe
Question:685 Mr. N. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding an application for an entry visa to Ireland in respect of two persons (details supplied). [11163/04]
View answerTuesday, 27 April 2004
Questions (625)
Written answers
The visa applications in question were to enable a ten-year-old female and 13-year-old male to join a non-EEA national employed in the State under the work permit scheme. In general, persons employed in the State under this scheme may be joined by their spouse and their minor children after the worker has been in the State for one year and has been offered a contract of employment for a further year. The worker must also be able to fully support the family members in question without the need to have recourse to public funds. In this instance, however, the children are not the children of the worker and therefore do not come within the scope of the scheme. I understand that, on their mother's side of the family, the children have three aunts and an uncle in their country of origin and that they are residing with one of these aunts.
It was also noted that the information submitted in support of the applications stated that the children's parents were deceased and a death certificate was submitted in respect of the mother. No evidence was submitted as to the father of the children; further, the children each had different surnames, as did the sponsor. No documentation was submitted to show that the worker was in a position to fully support the children without the need for them to have recourse to public funds.