Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 May 2013
186. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding long term residency-eligibility for naturalisation and entitlement to an Irish passport in respect of a child (details supplied) in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21055/13]
View answerThe mother of the child concerned has been granted leave to remain in the State for the period to 5 May 2015. This decision was conveyed in writing to the person concerned by letter dated 5 May 2012. The position in the State of the child of the person concerned will shortly be decided by reference to the provisions of Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. All representations submitted will be considered before a final decision is made. Once a decision has been made, this decision and the consequences of the decision will be conveyed in writing to the mother of the child concerned. It will be open to the person concerned to apply to the Citizenship Section of my Department for a Certificate of Naturalisation when she is in a position to meet the lawful residency criteria applicable to the lodgement of such applications. Details on the criteria to be met by persons lodging such applications are available from my Department's Website (www.justice.ie).
The Deputy should note that responsibility for the issuing of passports is vested in the Irish Passport Office, a business unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. As a result, the persons concerned, or indeed the Deputy on their behalf, may wish to pursue that matter with the Irish Passport Office or indeed with the Offices of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
