Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

The Tánaiste might confirm that in a moment. Finally last week I got six pages of a response to my parliamentary questions from the Tánaiste. However, they do not give replies to the questions I asked. No amount of evasion or obfuscation will get away from the basic point of what we seek here. I am looking for information relating to the exercise by the Tánaiste of a power conferred on him by the Immigration Act 1999. How many non-Irish nationals in each year up to 2005 were eligible to be considered for deportation pursuant to section (3)(2)(a) of the Act? How many of these non-Irish nationals were considered by him for deportation and how many, as of today, have been deported? That is the information I sought last April when I first tabled these questions and the information the Tánaiste has failed to furnish.

He has given me information on improvements in the system, on better liaison between different bodies under his aegis from the point of view of keeping track on such presence. The Tánaiste might like to comment on whether the improvement in such liaison occurred at approximately the same time as the departure from office of Charles Clarke as Home Secretary in the UK because of this very issue. One way or the other, I want to know how many such people roaming the countryside should have been considered for deportation, how many were considered and how many were deported. Despite all the obfuscation and evasion the Tánaiste has not yet furnished that information. I ask him to do so now.

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