Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 October 2013
161. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if temporary residency status will be granted in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick who has been employed here and paid income tax under PAYE here for seven years and who was under the impression that they had the relevant residency entitlement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43964/13]
View answerI have been informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person referred to by the Deputy does not have permission to be in the State. This is in breach of Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act 2004 which provides that no non-national may be in the State other than in accordance with the terms of any permission given to him or her by or on behalf of the Minister. Furthermore Section 5(2) of the Act provides that a non-Irish national who is in the State in contravention of subsection (1) is for all purposes unlawfully present in the State.
If the person mentioned by the Deputy has engaged in employment in the State without the appropriate employment permit both the person and the employer may be guilty of an offence under the Employment Permits Acts 2003 and 2006.
It would appear, from the information supplied by the Deputy, that the person concerned is unlawfully present in the State having first arrived here in June, 2005 and has entered employment contrary to national employment legislation. This is, of course, a matter of serious concern and officials of INIS will be in touch with the person concerning his position here.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to 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 INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
