Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 162: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will make a statement on Ireland's policy in dealing with women who arrive here and who have fled their homes due to gender-based violence; and if specific measures are in place to ensure that the victims of such crimes are not forcibly returned to situations of risk. [15740/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and section 2 of the Refugee Act 1996, as amended, defines a refugee, inter alia, as: "a person who, owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his or her nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his or her former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it."

In relation to the issue of gender specific persecution, I would point out that section 1 of the Refugee Act, as amended, defines "membership of a particular social group" as including "membership of a trade union and also includes membership of a group of persons whose defining characteristic is their belonging to the female or the male sex or having a particular sexual orientation."

Consideration of individual applications for refugee status based on gender grounds or otherwise is a matter for two independent statutory offices, namely, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner which considers asylum applications at first instance and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal which considers applications at appeals stage.

It should be further noted that where, after a detailed investigation as described above, an asylum applicant is found not to be in need of refugee status and the Minister proposes to deport the person under the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, the safety of returning that person must also be considered in deciding whether to make a deportation order. The legislation requires that safety of return is considered at the level of the individual in every case and before a deportation order is made. My Department uses extensive country of origin information drawn from different independent sources, including UNHCR, in evaluating the safety of making returns to third countries. I am satisfied that the procedures operated ensure as far as possible that persons are not returned in dangerous circumstances.