Vol. 502 No. 6
283 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a person (details supplied) who is a non EU national, who has been refused a certificate of naturalisation and is serving a prison sentence for sexually attacking a 14 year old girl, will be deported straight from prison on the completion of his sentence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8811/99]
It is not the normal practice to comment on the immigration status of individuals and I do not propose to depart from this practice.
The Deputy will be aware that the provision on deportation of non-nationals was found to be unconstitutional by the High Court in the Laurentiu case. Therefore, at present there is no power to deport a person no matter what offence they may have committed.
The Immigration Bill, 1999, which is advancing through the Houses of the Oireachtas, provides powers, principles and procedures regarding the deportation of non-nationals. Given the Deputy's evident concern, which I share, that there should be the option of deporting persons who have committed offences, including sexual offences, I look forward to the support of his party for the provisions of the Bill.
