Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 674: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will respond to correspondence from this Deputy of 22 December 2004 regarding a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29239/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The person who is the subject of the correspondence, a Romanian national, arrived in the State on 9 August 1999 and applied for asylum. She was refused refugee status by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. A deportation order was made in respect of her on 11 March 2004 and on 17 November 2004 she was deported from the State.

Numerous representations were made on this person's behalf, including those referred to by the Deputy, the thrust of which was the person concerned was engaged to be married to an Irish citizen. In my response to Dáil Question No. 229 on 17 May 2005 on the matter, I said that I would give the matter further consideration. On 20 May 2005 my Department received further correspondence from the Irish citizen concerned giving further details of the pending marriage. Taking this further information and previous representations into account, I revoked the deportation order on 1 June 2005 and both parties involved were notified of this decision. Given the ongoing consideration involved in this case, it would not have been possible to have given the Deputy a comprehensive reply to her representation before June 2005. I regret that the updated position was not conveyed to her in the meantime and a reply to her representations will issue shortly.