Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
627. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the correct procedure to be followed by a person (details supplied) to secure long-term residency who has been in Ireland for 12 years; when they will be eligible to apply for citizenship; the body or organisation which currently updates their status every couple of months at a costly amount; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18312/22]
View answerThe person referred to by the Deputy lodged a review application in respect of their EU Treaty Rights application decision on 2 August 2017. This application was examined in detail and a decision was made to uphold the decision to refuse their EU Treaty Rights application on 3 March 2021. The reasons for the refusal are outlined in the refusal letter.
The person concerned is currently in permission, on Stamp 1 conditions, (without the requirement to obtain an employment permit), for a period of six months until 20 May 2022. This person's case will be examined in advance of the expiry date of that permission by the Repatriation Division of my Department, to see if it falls within the parameters of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in the Chenchooliah case.
As the Deputy may be aware, the ECJ's ruling in that case requires a new process to be developed in this State to deal with the cases of third country nationals who may have been deemed to come within the scope of the EU Free Movement Directive but for whom the circumstances which allowed them to remain in the State no longer apply. The required process is still being developed and will be finalised in the coming months.
The person can contact the Repatriation Division of my Department in advance of the expiry date of their current permission directly at: repatadmin@justice.ie.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), 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 is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
