Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the need for complementary protection for persons who have fled their country, and are unable or unwilling to return there due to the fact that their lives, safety or freedom are threatened by generalised violence, foreign aggression, internal conflict, massive violations of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order, including the lack of a functioning State Government. [22197/06]

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 210: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the measures which the Government are taking to implement undertakings given under the Amsterdam Treaty Title IV, Article 63; if the Government will meet the deadline of 10 October 2006 for the transposition of the qualification directive 2004/83/EC; and the Government's intentions in relation to implementation of this directive. [22270/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 210 together.

Title IV of the Treaty establishing the European Community (inserted by the Treaty of Amsterdam) provides, inter alia, that the Council shall within a period of five years from the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty (1 May 1999), adopt certain minimum standards for asylum in EU Member States.

The objective of the relevant provisions of the EC Treaty is the creation of a common EU Asylum System, the establishment of which was endorsed by EU Heads of State and Government at the European Council in Tampere in 1999. A number of legal instruments in the area of asylum have been tabled by the European Commission to date and adopted by the Council.

Under the Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in relation to Title IV measures, the exercise of a specific option is required by the State, subject to the approval of the Government and the Houses of the Oireachtas, in order to take part in the measures in question.

The State has exercised the necessary options in respect of all asylum measures tabled to date under Title IV with the exception of the Reception Standards Directive which it is not proposed to opt into at the present time.

Article 63.1(c) of the EC Treaty specifically provides for the Council to adopt measures on minimum standards with respect to the qualification of nationals of third countries as refugees. This provision provided the legal basis for the adoption of Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted, which necessitates the introduction of a subsidiary protection regime in the State later in the year.

Ireland's immigration and refugee legislation and practices are in compliance generally with the substance of Council Directive 2004/83/EC.

Work is ongoing in my Department to put the necessary statutory and administrative provisions in place as required before 10 October 2006 to ensure formal compliance with the Directive.

In addition to the subsidiary protection regime which I have referred to, the State already has comprehensive legislative provisions in place for determining whether non-nationals should be allowed to remain in the State for protection purposes or otherwise, such as the Refugee Act 1996, which sets out the framework for determining entitlement to refugee status; section 5 of the 1996 Act prohibiting refoulement of persons on various grounds and the very wide-ranging considerations under section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999.