I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the persons mentioned by the Deputy would appear to have remained in the State 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 him 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.
The persons concerned should immediately contact their local Garda Immigration Officer or write to the Residence Division of INIS, setting out all relevant facts.
Queries in relation to general immigration matters may be made directly to 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 INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
