Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 June 2013
372. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application for visas-family reunification in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28853/13]
View answerI am informed by my officials in the Visa Unit of my Department that the person referred to by the Deputy made an application in 2009 on behalf of a child whom she had adopted in Ghana. All inter-country adoptions must be carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption 1993. Ghana is not a signatory to this Convention nor is there any administrative arrangement between the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the Ghanaian authorities.
A visa will only be granted in respect of a child adopted in another State where that adoption will be legally recognised in this State. That was not the case in relation to this application. Therefore, there was no possibility of this application succeeding. The person in question was contacted by an official in my Department and advised of this fact and invited to withdraw the application, which she subsequently did, thus preventing the creation of a visa refusal record which could have negatively impacted on any future visa applications made or sponsored by her.
At all times, the protection of children is paramount to INIS. I am extremely mindful of the potential risks associated with the irregular cross-border movement of children, and therefore my officials must always abide by the law in relation to inter-country adoptions and err on the side of caution in cases such as this.
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.
