Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 July 2013
196. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding residency in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34149/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to thank the Deputy for clarifying the situation in respect of the person concerned as my previous reply inadvertently misidentified the subject of the Deputy's question. This was due, in part, to an error in the Departmental reference number in the details provided with the question. The absence of other references used to link the individual to their records made identification difficult and as it happens the search for records located a different person with the same name. Indeed, it is to avoid situations like this arising that I would encourage Deputies to use the Oireachtas mail facility established to provide information to Oireachtas members on immigration cases rather than the Parliamentary Questions process. This facility provides up to date information on cases and its flexible nature ensures that any clarifications can be sought and provided very quickly.
The person referred to by the Deputy was registered in the State for a short period from 18th February 2002 to 3rd September 2002. The person appears to have remained here without the appropriate permission. This is in breach of Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act 2004 which provides that no non-national may be in the State other than in accordance with the terms of any permission given to them by or on behalf of the Minister. Furthermore, Section 5(2) of the Act provides that a non-national who is in the State in contravention of subsection (1) is for all purposes unlawfully present in the State. In the circumstances, I would strongly urge the person to immediately contact their local Garda registration Officer.
