Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2004
266 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a decision has been made on the appeal being determined under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32126/04]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 204 of 26 May 2004. One of the issues mentioned was refoulement and the situation in Afghanistan is still being monitored to determine the safety of returning persons there. There is also doubt about the stated nationality of the person concerned and further inquiries are being made in this regard. The person concerned will be informed of the outcome of these deliberations in due course.
267 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the consideration being given to allowing refugees, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants remain in the State on the basis that they have Irish born children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32304/04]
View answerThe separate procedure for considering residency applications based solely on the parentage of an Irish born child ceased on the 19 February 2003, following the Supreme Court decision in the case of L and O in January 2003. At that date a total of 11,493 applications on this basis were outstanding. I therefore assume the Deputy is referring to such outstanding applications. Applications for asylum, which are dealt with by the office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, are examined on a separate basis and criteria to these residency applications. With regard to outstanding claims to reside in the State on the basis of parentage of an Irish born child and future claims for leave to remain in the State from the non-national parents of Irish born children, the Government decided that every such case would be examined and decided individually. A notice to this effect was published on 18 July 2003.
The amendment to the Constitution following the June referendum has allowed the Oireachtas to deal with the issue of citizenship for children of non-national parents. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004 is currently before this House. Until that legislation is enacted, the situation on the ground is unchanged. Any person born in Ireland is still entitled to Irish citizenship. This continues to be an attraction to persons with no link to Ireland to seek to come to Ireland to acquire Irish and EU citizenship for their children. In these circumstances it is inappropriate for any change in procedures to be introduced in advance of the establishment of legislation as envisaged by the recent referendum.
Each case will be dealt with individually. I will make public my approach to the resolution of these issues in the near future.
