Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons that have applied for residency since the Zambrano judgment was handed down; the number of persons whose applications are outstanding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11868/11]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff within his Department allocated to process fresh residency applications under the terms of the Zambrano judgment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11869/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 41 and 66 together.

Currently my Department's records show that 929 persons who have no current right of residency have applied to have their case to remain in the State examined in accordance with the principles set out in the Zambrano judgment. All these cases require careful consideration in advance of any decision on whether they are comprehended by this judgment. To date, decisions have been made in 102 cases, with permission to remain in the State having been granted in all such cases. The majority of the remaining applications are cases where all the required documentation and information has not yet been submitted and where this is the case, the persons involved have been advised in writing as to what further documentation or information they must submit.

A number of other third country nationals who already hold a right of residency, for example on the basis of stamp 2, student, or stamp 3, dependant, conditions, have also sought to fall within the terms of the Zambrano judgment on the basis of being a parent of an Irish citizen child. Persons in this category are being advised to attend at their local Garda registration office, with certain items of documentation such as birth certificates, proof of residency and so on, at which point, all other things being equal, their immigration status will be upgraded to stamp 4 which will allow their continued residence in the State. These cases will not require substantive processing in my Department and, as such, they are not being recorded in a manner that will enable me to state how many such cases are involved.

There is a further cohort of cases involving persons who have sought to have their cases considered in accordance with the principles set out in the Zambrano judgment but who, on the face of it, will not meet the Zambrano criteria because, for example, they have left the State of their own accord or because they are EU rather than third country nationals. The Zambrano judgment has no relevance to EU nationals, who are entitled to be here in any case. Nevertheless, each such case will have to be responded to in an appropriate manner and will require the deployment of resources to process them.

My Department's records also indicate that there is a further body of some 140 cases where a link to the Zambrano judgment has been identified, but these cases are the subject of judicial review proceedings in the High Court where a decision to make a deportation order has been challenged. As such legal proceedings are ongoing, it would not be appropriate for me to make any further comment on such cases at this time. However, subject to issues such as the general terms of settlement including costs being addressed in a satisfactory manner, I do not anticipate any major delays in completing these cases.

In terms of the staffing resources deployed to processing Zambrano type cases, at present nine staff members are engaged on this work on a full-time basis while a similar number are involved in providing essential administrative support work to that team on a less than full-time basis.

The judgment in the Zambrano case was delivered on 8 March 2011 and I am satisfied that since that date, the relevant officials in my Department have applied themselves diligently to having all necessary follow up work carried out, including obtaining legal advice as to the implications of the judgment, to ensure that any person to whom the Zambrano judgment applies will have their case examined and a decision notified with the minimum delay. When I took office as Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence on 9 March, I took a significant leadership role in the whole matter. On 21 March, shortly after the judgment was delivered, I issued a detailed press statement, with the Government's agreement, setting out my views as to how the judgment should be applied in Ireland.