Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 521: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the hardship to new immigrant families where the husbands of women who got permission to reside under the IBC rule and who arrived here after 30 March 2005 are forced to live separately from their spouses and children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34420/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

On 15 January 2005, I announced revised arrangements for the processing of applications for permission to remain in the State from the non-national parents of Irish born children born before 1 January 2005. The closing date for receipt of applications was 31 March 2005. Late applications are not being considered and are being returned to the applicants. Of the 17,877 applications received under the scheme, thus far some 15,000 applicants have been granted leave to remain.

The terms of the scheme include certain criteria which applicants must meet in order to be considered for permission to remain. These include evidence of continuous residency in the State since the birth of the Irish born child and the parent and child must be resident in the State. Residency granted on the basis of parentage of an Irish born child does not give rise to any entitlement to be joined in the State by other family members. This was clearly stated on the front page of the application form. The application form also included a statutory declaration to be signed by applicants indicating their acceptance, inter alia, that the granting of permission to remain does not confer any entitlements or legitimate expectation on any other person, whether related, to enter the State.

The Deputy may be referring to men who entered the State after the 31 March 2005 closing date who are residing separately from their spouses and children, in circumstances in which their wives were successful under the scheme. Such persons are ineligible to remain under the terms of the revised arrangements. It is possible that some of the men in question are applicants for asylum from states covered by the accelerated asylum processing arrangements which came into operation on 25 January 2005 for nationals of Nigeria, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and South Africa. The arrangements for processing prioritised asylum applications include processing in the first instance in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner in an average of 15 working days and processing in the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in an average of 14 working days. The accelerated process includes the operation of dedicated accommodation centres for applicants while their asylum claims or deportation orders are being processed. Persons covered by this process have statutory obligations imposed on them to reside in such centres and report to immigration officers in both the asylum and deportation processes.

These arrangements facilitate the speedier processing of asylum applications from the states referred to and the effecting of deportation orders in respect of unsuccessful applicants. The residence and reporting requirements are, inter alia, intended to ensure that persons subject to deportation orders are more readily available to the Garda national immigration bureau while travel arrangements are being made for their return to their country of origin.