Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason for the delay in processing the residency application for a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3502/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The person in question made an application for permission to remain in the State on the basis of his marriage to an Irish national in September 2004. Marriage to an Irish national does not grant any automatic right to enter or reside in the State solely on that basis. Applications of this type are dealt with on a strict chronological basis and, in fairness to all other applicants, take approximately 16 months to process. In the case to which the Deputy refers two requests for further documentation have recently issued to the legal representatives of the person concerned in an effort to process the application further. To date no response has been received.

The resources allocated to process such applications depend on the prioritised work requirements of the immigration division of my Department at any one time, which operates against a background of significant increases on demands for its services over a wide range of areas, including the type of application to which the Deputy refers. For example, there were 156 such cases in 2001 and at the end of December 2005 the number of applications on hands had risen to 407.

The immigration division of my Department has growing experience of marriages being entered into for the sole purpose of enabling the non-national in question to gain entry to the State. In order to prevent abuses of the system, in so far as is possible, and without unduly interfering with the Irish citizen's private circumstances, the immigration division will seek to establish various matters. These include the context in which the marriage took place, the validity of the marriage and whether the couple resides in a family unit. This may involve requesting supporting documentation as evidence of the relationship and-or an interview of either or both parties by the immigration authorities. A decision on the residency application in question will be made on receipt of the information requested and after full consideration of all the circumstances particular to this case.