Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
769 Mr. S. Power asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a decision will be made on the application for residency by a person (details supplied) in County Kildare on the basis of their Irish-born children. [12159/04]
View answerThe person concerned arrived in the State and made an asylum application in October 1999. His partner, along with her then three year old daughter, followed him to the State and made her asylum application in May 2000. Both asylum applications were refused. She gave birth in the State on 13 October 2001 and both persons applied for residency on the basis of parentage of the Irish born child.
Following the decision of the Supreme Court in the cases of L and O, the separate procedure which then existed to enable persons to apply to reside in the State on the sole basis of parentage of an Irish born child ended on 19 February 2003. The Government decided that the separate procedure would not apply to cases which were outstanding on that date. There are a large number of such cases outstanding at present, including the case to which the Deputy refers.
As the persons in question do not have an alternative legal basis for remaining in this jurisdiction the issue of permission to remain will be considered but only in the context of the already issued ministerial proposals to deport them. If, in the light of representations received and the range of factors set out in section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999, the Minister decides not to make a deportation order they will be given leave to remain on a humanitarian basis. Given the large number of such cases on hand I am unable to say at this stage when the files will be examined.
