Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2004
159 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform further to his comments in the context of citizenship and the Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution, the number of non-national mothers who have given birth in maternity hospitals here and have not subsequently remained resident in this jurisdiction in each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12907/04]
View answerSome 3,153 non-EEA national parents were given permission to reside in the State on the basis of an Irish born citizen child in 2001. Some 4,056 non-EEA national parents were given permission to reside in the State on the basis of an Irish born citizen child in 2002. Some 183 non-EEA national parents were given permission to reside in the State on the basis of an Irish born citizen child in 2003. There are no figures available on the breakdown between mothers and fathers.
The figure of 183 for 2003 is as a result of the abolition of the separate residency application process for the parents of Irish born children in February 2003 in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in the cases of L and O. The fact that the separate residency application process was abolished however did not mean that the issue of Irish born citizen children did not continue to arise in the context of a ministerial proposal to deport.
At present there are over 9,000 non-EEA national parents who have asked to remain in Ireland because they have Irish born citizen children. This will require to be considered carefully in the context of a ministerial determination as to whether or not a deportation order should be made in respect of the parents.
There are no figures available to me on the number of non-EEA national parents who have not applied to me for residency on that basis or who have not sought to invoke their Irish born citizen child as a reason for not being deported.
There are no systematic exit controls in operation in this jurisdiction which are designed to provide figures on the number of mothers travelling with their children from the State — whether or not the children are Irish citizens. There is no immigration registration requirement for non-national children under the age of 16 years. Irish citizen children are not required to register their presence in the State.
