Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, to the House. It is good to have someone from the north west here.

This is a delicate issue and unfortunately I have had to resort to a matter on the Adjournment to have it addressed. I have been dealing with various departmental offices for the past three weeks. On the Order of Business in this House I raised the fact that one cannot make contact with various departmental offices, particularly those of the general immigration division of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. One can telephone the division on 01 6167700 on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. but nobody answers the telephone. Elected representatives should not have to resort to dealing with such matters on the Adjournment.

I call on the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to intervene in a case of a person (details supplied) in County Roscommon who has been refused permission to remain in the State. The woman in question is married to a British citizen and under EU directives she should also be regarded as a British citizen.

This case could have serious implications if it means that every British citizen in Ireland is required to have private medical cover and is not entitled to a medical card. This is clearly not the case with other British citizens residing in this State. I would be grateful if the Minister of State would clarify this because there should be a pro rata agreement for Irish citizens living in Britain.

The situation has caused serious stress for the woman in question, who is partially blind. I hope that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform will look favourably on her application for naturalisation and not simply stamp "3" on her passport. She should be entitled to a medical card, to social welfare or to work in this country. The Department has been insensitive on this occasion because this woman would not be a burden on the State. She is a Canadian citizen, married to a British citizen, and the Department's actions could be construed as being anti-British, anti-EU and anti-Canadian.

I reiterate my disgust at having to raise this issue in the House on the Adjournment. I regard the decision as discriminatory and I wish to see it amended. I hope the Minister of State has some good news, not for me, but for a constituent of mine who feels slighted and hurt at the way she has been treated by the State.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Feighan for his kind words of welcome. On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who cannot be here this evening, and for the benefit of the House in general, I am pleased to respond to the matter raised by Senator Feighan. The file reference quoted by the Senator relates to an application for naturalisation by the person in question. That application was refused. However, in view of the matter raised by the Senator I will deal with the issue of leave to remain in the State, which is an entirely different matter.

At the outset, the Minister has now issued a letter to the person in question, granting her permission to remain in the State for a one year period without the need for private medical insurance. That permission may be renewed on application. She is also required to register with her local Garda registration office. It should be noted in this context that for the first eight years of her residence in the State, she was here without permission and failed to register with the Garda Síochána, as required by law.

A refusal to grant permission to remain in a case such as this is not tantamount to making a deportation order. Under the Irish legislative regime, the Minister is required by law to notify potential deportees in advance and to afford such persons an opportunity in writing to advance reasons as to why they should not be deported. As the Senator is no doubt aware, that never happened in this case and nor was it likely to happen.

The person in question was granted permission to remain in the State on 7 April 2005 on condition that she had private medical insurance. The difficulty was that she was unable to obtain such insurance, a difficulty which emerged only when she visited her local Garda registration office. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Minister has now decided to extend her permission for humanitarian reasons, having regard to the duration of her residency in the State and her personal and family circumstances.

In a wider context, the principles applied in this case are applied by immigration authorities in all jurisdictions. In addition, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform recently published a document entitled Immigration and Residence in Ireland, which outlines policy proposals for an immigration and residence Bill. That document contains an entire chapter on the admission of non-economically active persons. The Minister would welcome contributions from all quarters on the complex web of issues surrounding the immigration phenomenon, including issues that arise in the context of the Senator's Adjournment matter.