Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for Justice and Equality, Deputy Stanton, for his presence here to address the challenges experienced by some migrant children. This matter was prompted by a particular local case, of which I know the Minister of State may be aware. However, many young people living in Ireland are struggling to regularise their immigration status in a system that appears to be extraordinarily difficult to navigate and idiosyncratic. Migrant children are one of the most vulnerable groups of children in Ireland making child migration an enormous challenge for us. We must fairly address the issue in the best interests of the welfare of the child. Currenlty immigration law lacks consistency and clarity. Lack of data is a block to proper planning and this should be gathered and published annually. We need clear and understandable guidelines for decision-making and we need to find an easy way for people who become trapped in irregular undocumented immigration situations to regularise their situation without fear, most especially if there are children involved.

Migrant children's interaction with the immigration system is not addressed in a coherent way. Our laws lack transparency and clarity leaving children largely invisible in our immigration system. Their specific rights and needs are not given adequate consideration. International law requires that all children including children, accompanied by parents or other legal guardians, must be treated as individual rights holders, their child-specific needs considered equally and individually and that their views are appropriately heard.

I do not need to remind the Minister of State that Ireland has obligations under international human rights law, EU law and the EU Convention on Human Rights to respect children's rights. Furthermore a right to a family life is a fundamental aspect of EU law, international human rights law and Irish constitutional law. In January 2016 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child examined Ireland's compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It recommended that Ireland adopt a legal framework to address the needs of migrant children.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland undertook to document what those needs were and how the absence of a framework for legal migration impacted on children and young people's lives and Child Migration Matters was published in December 2016. I know the Minister of State is well aware of that. This featured 32 case studies and interviews with the 150 plus professionals working with children and young people from a migrant background. It is a comprehensive snapshot of the multiple challenges facing immigrant children and young people and concerning the lack of information, guidance and clear criteria when it comes to the immigration status of these young people. The sheer volume of calls to their helpline and the cases relating to children and young people inspired the research. I know that the Immigrant Council has been calling on the Department to streamline the process for young people and for a centralised single agency with expertise to be established, which can provide clear and comprehensive guidance to young people, their families and those working with them to ensure that they know exactly what is required to regularise their status.

A person's immigration status can define and determine the life path. It is central to their access to employment, education and social services and yet there has been little policy analysis here or dissemination of information to ensure that children have a recognised, appropriate immigration status and that they can apply for naturalisation when they have fulfilled specific criteria. I am thinking of children who have come here as babies or at one or two years of age who consider themselves Irish, who have gone through our education system and are now facing deportation. It is incumbent on us to figure out some method for providing an amnesty for children and young people in that position. The Irish immigration system does not allow a child younger than 16 to hold immigration status on an individual basis. It assumes that the immigration permission of such a child be that of their parent. Therefore the immigration status of a child lacks clarity and consistency which can result in practical difficulties for children.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Corcoran Kennedy for raising this important matter. I am here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, under whose remit this policy area resides. The Deputy will be aware that I cannot comment on individual cases nor on cases that are due to come before the court.

While the control of our borders and immigration are important duties of State, Ireland has always been recognised as an open and welcoming society. This duty is at all times subject to the law, including our international human rights obligations, and the supervision of the superior courts. Ireland operates a very open immigration regime with many different pathways for non-European Economic Area, EEA, nationals to enter and remain in the State lawfully. Indeed, just yesterday over 3,500 people became Irish citizens at a series of citizenship ceremonies in Killarney. At the same time, however, it is not unreasonable of the State to expect those who have been granted permission to reside here to respect the conditions attaching to that permission, including the obligation to leave the State once their permission expires.

When an asylum seeker comes to Ireland seeking international protection status, they enter a legal process. At the end of the application process, during which all aspects of the applicant's case, including full consideration of Article 8, family rights, are considered in detail, a decision is made and the applicant is either granted international protection status and permission to remain in Ireland or if they do not qualify they must leave the State. In both circumstances the applicant is given time to make appropriate arrangements. For those issued with a deportation order, the obligation is on the person to remove themselves from the State and only when they decide not to do so, is enforced removal deportation considered as a last resort. I am assured by my officials that the immigration service has always shown itself to be fully sympathetic to the plight of such persons unlawfully in the country and will balance their situation against the State's obligation to protect its borders. Importantly, in the interests of fairness, clear, transparent procedures are applied and at all times the actions of the immigration services are subject to review by the courts. A decision to make a deportation order is not taken lightly, particularly where children are involved. I am assured that the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, is fully alive to the impact of a deportation order, including in circumstances where a person or a family has been in the State for some time. The courts are also aware of this factor. Similarly, the courts take cognisance of circumstances where people are present in the State and do not comply with the conditions attached to their permission.

The question of an amnesty or general regularisation scheme along the lines suggested by the Deputy for those who are currently illegally resident in the State has been considered many times. It is considered that such an approach could have many unintended consequences including in relation to the operation of the Common Travel Area and the integrity of our immigration system. The approach taken by INIS is to look at the circumstances of each case and take account of factors such as the co-operation or otherwise of applicants with INIS and the degree to which an applicant has abided by the conditions attached to permission in the State. Where there is evidence of a desire to respect the laws of the State and abide by them, a humanitarian approach may be taken where merited on a case-by-case basis.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I hoped that consideration would be given to the proposals that a child-sensitive, human rights-compliant, transparent legal framework for immigration would be adopted where the best interests of the child is a guiding principle, that applications for visas and residents' permissions would be considered and that there would be statutory rights-based procedures for family reunification in respect of Irish nationals and non-EEA nationals, with expanded categories of migrants eligible for immediate family reunification. I am going off my Topical Issue Matter but this is part of the bigger picture. Also I hoped for an independent appeals mechanism to review negative decisions in applications and for appropriate, tailored immigration permission for children who are required to register and a formal statelessness determination procedure for people who cannot establish citizenship of any nation.

The Minister will understand that there are many practical challenges that prevent people from registering so that they are undocumented. I noted the response at the end "where a humanitarian approach may taken where merited on a case-by-case basis". That is posing a challenge where similar applications receive different responses. There is little insight into why these different responses pertain. If some of these suggestions are put in place, it would save time and resources in the administration process. If we, as a State, have invested taxpayers' money in accommodating, educating and getting people here to a stage where they consider themselves Irish citizens, then allowing them to complete that education, integrate into the labour market and become part of society is the best outcome for everybody concerned.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Ireland is a State that welcomes emigrants and recognises the positives of immigration. At the same time, and like all countries, Ireland must operate a transparent and fair immigration system which functions with integrity and is subject to the supervision of the courts. Children who enter the State must, of course, be treated with the greatest of care. However, that is not to say that non-EEA nationals with children who enter the State for the purposes of claiming international protection should be allowed to remain because of their children. I assure the Deputy and the House that the immigration cases of all persons seeking to remain in this State are considered on their individual merits and in accordance with all applicable domestic, EU and international law. We have an obligation to treat persons who arrive in this State with due process and in a fair and transparent manner. That is what we do. However, we also have an obligation to our citizens and those who have been granted immigration permission to be in the State to respond to those who have no legal basis to be here and have availed of all legal options open to them.

One point that I did not emphasise earlier is the European dimension to this issue. Ireland, together with the other member states of the European Union, has committed, under the European pact on immigration and asylum, agreed at the European Council in October 2008, to use only case by case regularisation rather than generalised regulation under national law for humanitarian or economic reasons. The pact commits member states to not engaging in any form of general regularisation of those illegally present in the territory of member states. That means a general amnesty cannot happen. I reiterate, therefore, that it remains Government priority not to introduce an amnesty along the lines suggested for the reasons stated. Ireland is however an open and welcoming society and a place where the law is applied fairly under the supervision of the courts. We look at these instances on a case by case individual humanitarian basis.