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Deportation Orders

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 December 2012

Thursday, 6 December 2012

Questions (79, 80)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Question:

79. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide in tabular form the number of deportation orders signed under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 since its enactment; the numbers of those enforced and the number of those subsequently revoked under section 3 (11); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54881/12]

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Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Question:

80. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide in tabular form the number of persons granted leave to remain on humanitarian grounds under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 since its enactment; the number of such applications still pending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54882/12]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 79 and 80 together.

I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service that in the period 1999 to 2012 (to end October) in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration Act 1999 a total of 20,163 deportation orders were signed, 6,275 persons were granted leave to remain, and 4,472 persons were removed from the State (this does not include persons who were refused leave to land at Irish ports of entry and subsequently removed from the State). The Deputy may not be aware that the making of a deportation order against a person requires him or her to leave the State. It is also believed that significant numbers of these persons have left the State. In the same period, a total of 150 deportation orders were revoked under section 3(11) of the Immigration Act (these figures relate to asylum cases only).

A breakdown of the annual figures for deportation orders signed, persons granted leave to remain and persons deported for each of the past five years was provided in my reply to PQ Number 540 of 27 November 2012, the relevant portions of which I have appended for the Deputy’s information. I can further inform the Deputy that the number of deportation orders revoked in each year in the period 2008 to end October 2012 was 25, 14, 21, 15 and 18 respectively. The penultimate paragraph of my reply to PQ number 540 outlines the complexities of the process and accordingly why it is not possible to provide details of the status of the remaining caseload.

It should be noted that the leave to remain figures provided also include persons granted leave to remain made in accordance with the principles set out in the Judgement of the European Court of Justice in the Zambrano case but not those granted leave to remain under the 2005 Irish Born Child Administrative Scheme or other arrangements in place prior to that time. Finally, I might add that I recently approved an initiative to put in place a panel with legal expertise who will assist the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in processing a cohort of repatriation cases thus speeding up the overall process and reducing the time spent by persons in the Direct Provision system. I would expect to see significant dividends from this initiative in the coming months.

Extract from PQ reply to PQ number 540 of 27 th November 2012

I can inform the Deputy that in the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 (to end the October) a total of 3,185, 5,037, 4,326, 2,471 and 1,779 notifications of intention to deport were issued by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS). During the same period, 757, 1,077, 1034, 1334 and 1,234 deportation orders were signed and a total of 161, 338 343, 280 and 246 persons have been removed from the State together with 529, 539 461, 475 and 387 who have voluntarily returned to their country of origin. These figures do not include approximately 2,500 persons per annum who have been refused leave to land and are subsequently removed from the State.

As outlined in my response to PQ Numbers 962, 968 and 971 of 18 th April last, a total of 1,052, 512, 232, 1957 and 951 were granted leave to remain in accordance with the provisions of the immigration acts. The increase in the figures in 2011 and in 2012 to date is mainly due to the impact of the Zambrano judgement which was delivered by the European Court of Justice on 8 th March, 2011.

With regard to the numbers evading deportation, it is difficult to produce precise figures. Persons against whom a deportation order has issued may for short periods fail to report to their local immigration office but many subsequently do so. In addition, I am informed that a significant number of persons who are the subject of a Deportation Order will have left the jurisdiction.

The processing of cases at the repatriation stage is a complex one with obligations to adhere to both domestic and international law and to make decisions in accordance with the UN Convention on Human Rights. The process can be a lengthy one often punctuated with judicial reviews taken by the applicants at various stages including at deportation stage. Accordingly, not all cases fit neatly into particular categories. For example, in the case of families, one member of the family may have lodged a judicial review which in turn may mean that the remainder of the family may not be processed until its outcome is determined. In addition, some applicants may also be party to an application under EU Treaty Rights or through marriage to an Irish citizen or may have been granted leave to remain as a result of these applications. Therefore, it is not possible to provide figures in respect of the remainder of the case load without engaging in a very detailed exercise which could not be justified as it would divert resources from case processing.

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