Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 289: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding the application for stamp four for a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39495/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The person concerned, a Romanian national, entered the State on 12 June 1999 and claimed asylum. His application was refused following consideration of his case by asylum division and, on appeal, by the Refugee Appeals Authority.

He was informed by letter of 4 September 2000 that the Minister proposed to make a deportation order in respect of him and afforded him three options under section 3(3)(b)(ii) of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, namely, to make written representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why he should be allowed to remain temporarily in the State, to leave the State voluntarily, or to consent to the making of a deportation order in respect of him.

This person's application, including all representations received on his behalf, is currently being examined under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, and section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996, prohibition of refoulement. A final decision will be made in this case in due course.

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the general instability, state of war and human rights abuses in Afghanistan; if examinations will be made regarding the applications for leave to remain by Afghani citizens living here; and if he will provide a breakdown of the number of Afghani citizens seeking leave to remain in the State and the number of applications made, and granted by the State in previous years. [39498/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I refer the Deputy to the statements made in the House on my behalf by Deputy John Browne, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, in the Dáil Adjournment debate on Thursday, 8 December 2005, and to the reply I gave to Question No. 385 on Tuesday, 13 December 2005. The position is as outlined therein.

In the context of deciding whether to make a deportation order under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, the issue of being granted leave to remain is considered irrespective of whether an application or representations are made to the Minister. Statistics are therefore not maintained by my Department that would distinguish cases where representations for leave to remain were made from those cases where no such representations were received.

The relevant legislation which I as Minister must have regard to in deciding every case is section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, and section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996, prohibition of refoulement. The latter provision specifically prohibits me from returning persons to unsafe situations. The safety of returning a person, or refoulement, as it is referred to, is fully considered in every case when deciding whether to make a deportation order. That means that a person shall not be expelled from the State or returned in any manner whatsoever to a State where, in my opinion, the life or freedom of that person would be threatened on account of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The legislation requires that this consideration is given before the deportation decision is made. My Department uses extensive country-of-origin information drawn from different independent sources, including the UNHCR, in evaluating the safety of making returns to third countries.

In the time available, it has not been possible to provide detailed statistics regarding Afghani asylum seekers in recent years. That is being complied and will be forwarded to the Deputy in the next few days.