James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 5 will insert a new Part 7 into this Bill to make a number of amendments to the Immigration Act 1999. First, it inserts a new section 43 into the Bill. This is a technical amendment to provide a definition of the Act of 1999 for the purposes of this new Part.

This also inserts a new section 44 to amend procedures for voluntary return under section 3 of the 1999 Act. Section 3(4) of the Immigration Act 1999 currently requires that a person to whom a deportation order is about to be made be given the option to voluntarily leave the State within 15 days before the order can be enforced against him or her. Where a deportation order has been enforced against a person and they are removed from the State, the person cannot re-enter the State unless the order is revoked. It is intended that this amendment will amend section 3 of the Act to allow the Minister to enforce a deportation order immediately where the person concerned has been convicted of a serious criminal offence or poses a threat to the security of the State, and does not have to wait for the time period to elapse. This will align these provisions more broadly with the deportation provisions under section 48 of the International Protection Act 2015. While voluntary return will continue to apply in almost all cases where it is appropriate to do so, it is important that it does not apply in all cases, such as those involving serious criminality.

Finally, amendment Nos. 5a and 5b also amend section 6 of the 1999 Act to provide for the service of notice under the Act by electronic means. This will allow for people to be contacted about their immigration decisions under this Act by email or through a customer portal where applicable. There have been many examples where people have changed their address and may not have notified my Department. This will enable us to send important notices even when a person may have moved. It should be noted that electronic service of notices can be effected only where the person has consented to service in this manner and they have provided their email address for this purpose to the administrator or registration officer. The new provision also provides for deemed service after expiry of three working days, which mirrors the current arrangements for postal service. While electronic service is not intended to fully replace other modes of service already provided for under current legislative provisions, it will allow more flexibility and efficiency for customers and will support ongoing modernisation efforts across immigration service delivery, including the introduction of a digital customer portal that will be rolled out over the coming years.

I will be seeking similar amendments today to the Immigration Act 2004 and the International Protection Act 2005.

Amendments Nos. 6a and 6b insert a new Part 8 of this Bill to make a number of amendments to the Immigration Act 2004. Similar to the amendments to the 1999 Act, they insert a new section 46 into the Bill to provide a definition of the Act of 2004 for the purposes of this new Part. The new section 47 makes two technical amendments to sections 4(3) and 4(7) of the 2004 Act to replace amendments made in the Dáil so that they appear within this new Part.

Amendments Nos. 6a and 6b also insert a new section 48 to amend section 18 of the 2004 Act to provide for the electronic service of notices under the Act in the same manner as outlined relating to the amendments Nos. 5a and 5b.

Amendment No. 8 proposes to amend section 62 of this Bill, which will amend section 5 of the International Protection Act 2015 to provide for the electronic service of notices under the Act in almost identical manner as I outlined in relation to amendments Nos. 5 and 6. The only difference in relation to the amendments to the 2015 Act is that it will allow for service of notices by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, which can service notices as part of the appeals process.

Amendment No. 17 makes a consequential amendment to the Long Title.