Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Written Answers Nos. 301-304

Subsidiary Protection Applications

Ceisteanna (301)

John Halligan

Ceist:

301. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application for subsidiary protection in respect of a person (details supplied). [21524/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

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 31 March, 2009, that the 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 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 European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006. 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.

The case of the person concerned is amongst many to be considered at present and it is not possible to provide a specific indication as to when this case will be finalised.

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.

Question No. 302 answered with Question No. 300.

Passport Controls

Ceisteanna (303)

Joe Higgins

Ceist:

303. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality following the recent installation of automated passport checks in Dublin Airport, if data on the entry of Irish citizens into the State is retained; if so, the length of time for which such data is retained; the persons that would have access to such data and the purposes of same. [21574/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Services (INIS) recently commenced a six month trial of automated border control gates (e-gates) at Pier A/D of Terminal One in Dublin Airport. The e-gates offer certain categories of arriving passengers (passport holders from EU states - including Ireland, EEA states and Switzerland who are over 18 years of age and hold a first generation biometric passport i.e. with an electronic chip which contains the holder's facial image) a ‘self-service’ type channel to clear immigration control.

The gates' systems operate by first reading the passport to establish that the holder is a person who is entitled to use the gate. Persons under 18 years of age or a person who is not a passport holder from the geographical areas mentioned above will be automatically refused entry to the gates. For those persons who can use the gates, the facial image contained in the passport is compared electronically to a live photograph taken at the gate to verify that the person presenting at the gate is the person to whom the passport was issued. For the trial period, once the comparison is made, the passport data is deleted except for some anonymised data which will be used for statistical purposes.

Ministerial Transport

Ceisteanna (304)

Finian McGrath

Ceist:

304. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Defence the total costs involved in the operation of the Government jet for the years 2008 to 2012. [21373/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Defence

The Ministerial Air Transport Service (MATS) is primarily provided by the Gulfstream IV and Learjet 45 aircraft, which were specifically acquired for that purpose. My Department follows the normal practice in the aviation business of costing aircraft by reference to the cost per flying hour under either of two headings:

- The direct cost which includes costs which are additional to those associated with having the aircraft and which only arise when the aircraft is flown including maintenance, fuel and support services such as catering costs, cleaning services and airport handling charges.

- The total cost which is the direct cost plus the costs associated with having the aircraft, including depreciation and personnel costs.

Details of the hourly costs for each aircraft in 2011 and 2012 are contained in the tabular statement:

Aircraft	Average Direct Cost Per Hour €	Average Total Cost Per Hour €
Gulfstream IV	3,270	3,790
Learjet 45	1,940	4,200

Details of the hourly costs for each aircraft in 2009 and 2010 are contained in the tabular statement:

Aircraft	Average Direct Cost Per Hour €	Average Total Cost Per Hour €
Gulfstream IV	4,050	7,890
Learjet 45	1,270	2,950

Details of the hourly costs for each aircraft in 2008 are contained in the tabular statement:

Aircraft	Average Direct Cost Per Hour €	Average Total Cost Per Hour €
Gulfstream IV	3,500	7,100
Learjet 45	1,000	2,100

Details of hours flown in respect of MATS missions, per aircraft type, for the five years in question are contained in the tabular statement:

Year	Type	Hours
2008	Gulfstream IV	357.50
	Learjet 45	248.67
2009	Gulfstream IV	220.42
	Learjet 45	239.17
2010	Gulfstream IV	186.83
	Learjet 45	160.75
2011	Gulfstream IV	120.50
	Learjet 45	72.42
2012	Gulfstream IV	206.08
	Learjet 45	131.83

In addition, a CASA maritime patrol aircraft and a AW 139 helicopter have been used infrequently for Ministerial travel when no MATS aircraft were available for operational or technical reasons. The last occasion these aircraft types were used for Ministerial travel was in October 2011 and February 2011 respectively.