Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 February 2014
151. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on correspondence regarding a deportation case (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5873/14]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the persons referred to by the Deputy were given temporary residency in the State on Stamp 3 conditions from July 2010 to December 2012. Stamp 3 is granted to persons who have demonstrated to the immigration officer that they have sufficient funds to support themselves, will not work or operate a business in the State and will not become a burden on the State. The persons referred to applied for a change of immigration permission to a Stamp 4 in September 2012 in order that they could work in the State without a work permit. The General Immigration Section of INIS wrote to the persons concerned in January 2013 and again in July 2013 seeking information in order to progress the application. The requested information was received in August 2013 and the application for a change of status was refused on 27 August 2013. On 18 September 2013, a request for a review was submitted to the General Immigration Section of INIS which also requested that the Stamp 3 permission be reinstated. On review, this was refused on 16 October 2013 as the evidence of finances provided was deemed not sufficient to support a family of two adults and three children without potential recourse to public funds. They were requested to leave the State as no further permission would be granted. The persons left the State on 1 November 2013 and their application was deemed concluded.
The persons referred to by the Deputy subsequently re-entered the State as visitors on 6 November 2013 and were given visitors' permission for one month - up to 6 December 2013. Despite entering the State as visitors, the General Immigration Section of INIS received an application on 5 December 2013 for 'leave to remain' in respect of the persons referred to by the Deputy. As this application had already been assessed, it was not accepted and was returned to the persons referred to by the Deputy. On 6 January 2014, a further request for a review of this decision was received in the General Immigration Section of INIS. The basis of the review request was that the persons referred to by the Deputy were in fact applying for Business Permission to remain in the State. Over the course of the last two months, many representations have been made by many public representatives, including the Deputy, on behalf of the persons referred to by the Deputy. The persons referred to by the Deputy and the public representatives have been informed of the details and requirements of the Business Permission Scheme; one of which is that the applicants must apply from outside the State. The persons referred to by the Deputy can be in no doubt as to what is required of them in relation to this and indeed in relation to their immigration permission or lack thereof.
The persons referred to by the Deputy have exhausted the application and review processes and have no permission to be in the State since 6 December 2013. If the persons referred to by the Deputy do not leave the State, it is the intention of the General Immigration Section of INIS to issue a 'notification of a proposal to deport' letter under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999. The Deputy may wish to note that 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 established specifically 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.
