Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 March 2013
189. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress made to date and procedure yet to be followed to facilitate long term residency/eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12206/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned applied for asylum in February, 2004. In accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended), the person concerned was entitled to remain in the State until his application for asylum was decided. His asylum application was refused following consideration of his case by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
Arising from the refusal of his asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 25th July, 2008, that the then Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of him. He was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the then Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against him. In addition, he was notified of his entitlement to apply for subsidiary protection in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006.
The person concerned initiated Judicial Review proceedings in the High Court, challenging the decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in his case. The Judicial Review proceedings were struck out on 4th October, 2012 meaning that the earlier decisions of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and the Minister stood. The person concerned submitted an application for subsidiary protection. When consideration of this application has been completed, the person concerned will be notified in writing of the outcome.
In the event that the application for subsidiary protection is refused, the position in the State of the person concerned will then be decided by reference to the provisions of Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. All representations submitted will be considered before a final decision is made. Once a decision has been made, this decision, and the consequences of the decision, will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.
Given that the person concerned has no current right of residency in the State, the issue of an application for a certificate of naturalisation does not arise at this time. Neither would the person concerned be in a position to meet the eligibility criteria applicable to persons applying for the status of Long Term Residency as he does not have the required periods of lawful residency on work permit or work authorisation conditions.
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.
