The person concerned, along with his wife, arrived in the State on 13 November 2001 and made an application for asylum. On 28 January 2002 his wife gave birth. They withdrew their asylum applications and applied for permission to remain in the State on the basis of their parentage of an Irish born child.
Following the decision of the Supreme Court in the cases of L & 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.
Since 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 a ministerial proposal to deport them. Letters indicating my proposal to deport were issued to the persons concerned on 25 August 2004.
If, in the light of representations received and the range of factors set out in section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999, I decide not to make a deportation order they will be given leave to remain on a humanitarian basis. Due to the large number of such cases on hand I am unable to say at this stage when the file will be examined.
