Results 1,521-1,540 of 18,726 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Second Stage. (1 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: Just in case people get the contrary impression, no Minister takes any pleasure in destroying someone's dreams, irrespective of whether people exploited the asylum system or behaved in the most proper manner. They are human beings and are entitled to have their dreams as well as the ambitions for their families and children which one would expect. I am reminded of the Swiss architect and...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: There are some misunderstandings here. First, it is not the case that there are no criteria on which the decisions in question are made. For instance, section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999 and section 4(10) of the Immigration Act 2004 deal at great length with the criteria that must be taken into account in applications of this kind. Even when it comes to a decision on humanitarian leave...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I was not talking about Senator McDowell. I was talking about others.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: It may be that——

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: One would not know about that. I was about to make the point that Senator Cummins's proposal would allow the non-national parents of children born in Ireland before 24 January 2003 to be deemed to be, at all times, lawfully present in the State. That means that the taxi driver in Bucharest, if he made some girl in Bucharest pregnant, would be deemed to be, at all times, lawfully present in...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I know Senator Cummins did not really mean that. He has tabled the amendment for the purpose of provoking a debate and will not stand over the exact wording of it. It casts too broad a net. The effect of amendment No. 2 would be to allow anybody anywhere who before 2003 fathered a child born in Ireland to be deemed at all times to be lawfully present in Ireland and be able to come here and go...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The Senator would be surprised. I intend to adhere to the rubric that the Government as a whole will look at the issue before I enunciate a policy that will have significant ramifications. Senator Norris raised the issue of €100 million in resources. The asylum seeking phenomenon, 90% of which is not legally sustainable, cost the State €350 million across a number of Departments two years...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: ——but this is still a significant sum of money. There are problems in the developing world but addressing them in Ireland may not be the fairest way to deal with them. When we consider what is happening in the Congo or in Sudan and what the developed world should be doing, applying huge resources to a phenomenon 90% of which is not legally sustainable when examined in detail is not the...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: If someone came to Ireland and said he thought he would be stoned under Sharia law and gave his address as northern Nigeria to give credence to that and it turns out that he is the father of two Irish children who are now at the local national school, of course we must be reasonable and say that might not have been true but at we must find out who he is and he must engage with the process,...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The Senator is correct in that there are certain categories of British subjects who are not invested with the right to be in the United Kingdom. One of the categories provides that a person is entitled to reside in the United Kingdom without any restriction on his or her period of residence, if he or she has what is known as the right of abode there or has a passport endorsement to the effect...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I do not believe so. I believe it is possible to be a subject of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and not to be entitled to reside in the United Kingdom, but it is not possible to be a British citizen and not to reside in the United Kingdom.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: To take the second point first, "resident" for the purpose of section 6A refers to actual residence in Ireland, and the Bill states: "has been resident in the island of Ireland for a period of not less than 3 years or periods the aggregate of which is not less than 3 years", during the period of four years immediately preceding the person's birth. One must be actually resident here. If the...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: What I am trying to do with this provision is to mirror citizenship and nationality law. At present, the general rule is that if one is five years' resident in Ireland lawfully, one may apply for citizenship and naturalisation. Discounted from that is time spent in the asylum process prior to recognition and also time spent as students. The reason is that we want our asylum seekers to come...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I will make arrangements for the asylum service to send a letter to the Senator setting out the position in terms of numbers. I do not want to make an exaggerated claim, but there has been a fairly dramatic change in the length of time it is taking, particularly in respect of accelerated country of origin cases. Senator Norris is proposing that when one is declared a refugee and given the...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: After three years one can apply without payment of any fee to become an Irish citizen whereas if one is a migrant worker one must pay an accompanying fee with the application for citizenship. In one sense the State treats the first person more favourably as to time and money.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: No. We do not normally revisit the issue of whether the civil war one fled continues. That is not the normal course. If one is here and is granted asylum status one could stay here, unless there was some ordre publique reason to exclude one from the country. We do not say it is time to return to Afghanistan or wherever because the situation there has cleared up.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: Yes, there are Bosnians who were given repatriation grants to go back to Bosnia and as part of that package they said they were led to believe if it did not work out in Bosnia they could come back, and they have returned.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: Many have been naturalised but they are here effectively as refugees.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: If somebody came from Bosnia as a refugee and was granted refugee status and applied under this three year rubric for Irish citizenship and nationality, the first response from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is not to say that the situation in Bosnia has cleared up. Those people as a matter of practice get citizenship and we have not resorted to saying that as the...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The law on citizenship is as follows: the Irish State can, when the Executive advises the President, confer citizenship as a token of honour on somebody who has done signal service to the Irish nation, under section 12 of the 1956 Act. That is full citizenship, not honorary in the sense of being an honorary member of a golf club or whatever, but conferred as a matter of honour on the person....