John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 639: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied); if this case needs to be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19516/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The visa application referred to by the Deputy was for the stated purposes of enabling a non-EEA national travel to the State to join his wife who is an Irish national. When assessing applications of this type, the visa officer will consider, among other factors, whether the level of salary of the spouse in Ireland would come within the ambit of qualifying for payment from public funds. In this regard, the criteria set by the Department of Social and Family Affairs for eligibility for family income supplement payment, FIS, is used. The criteria, which may change from time to time, are availableon that Department's website www.welfare.ie./publications/sw22.html. If the level of the spouse's income as evidenced by his or her payslips or P60 would qualify for FIS payments, the application for a visa is generally refused as it is evident that the family can seek recourse to public funds.

In the case of the person referred to by the Deputy, the application was refused for reasons of finances, specifically in relation to the adequacy of the finances to enable the couple to live in the State without recourse to public funds.

An appeal was made against the decision to refuse the application. The application was re-examined by the appeals officer who upheld the decision to refuse as the level of income would come within the ambit of qualifying for FIS payments. It is open to the applicant to make a fresh application supported by current documentation. In this regard, evidence of increases in salary will be taken into account.