I have no plans to introduce a policy on the lines suggested by the Deputy. The Deputy might wish to note that at EU Level, the Member States, in agreeing the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum at the European Council in October 2008 made specific commitments "to use only case-by-case regularisation, rather than generalised regularisation, under national law, for humanitarian or economic reasons". While the Pact is not legally binding, the political commitment among Member States, then and now, is clearly against any form of process that would in any way legitimise the status of persons present in the State without first examining the merits of their individual cases. This is the approach that has been consistently followed by successive Ministers in this respect. It is open to a person who is in the situation referred to by the Deputy to seek to have their case considered on its merits and to respect the decision that is ultimately made. In some cases that decision would result in their being granted leave to remain. In other instances they would be required to leave the State.
While I appreciate the Deputy's concerns on this issue, it is the responsibility of all non-EEA nationals who are resident in the State to ensure that they have an appropriate permission from the Minister for Justice and Equality. Most migrants do in fact comply with this condition and obey the State's immigration laws. It does not follow that a Stamp 4 immigration permission, which is generally seen as being the most sought after immigration status, should be conferred on a broad basis on persons who have lived here illegally while others who have complied with all of the immigration rules enjoy a lesser status.
