Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 386: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the official figures on which he bases his view that marriages of convenience are being increasingly availed of to avoid removal from the State. [5396/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Marriages of convenience for the purpose of circumventing normal immigration controls are experienced by immigration jurisdictions worldwide. The contracting of marriages in order to gain an immigration advantage represents a significant challenge to immigration authorities. This has been clearly recognised in international instruments such as the "European Union Directive on the Rights of Citizens of the Union and their Family Members to Move and Reside Freely within the European Union", which identifies marriages of convenience as an abuse of the rights contained in that Directive.

Marriages of convenience are of their very nature difficult to detect. Final determination as to the validity of marriage based claims in this area can only be made after an in depth examination of the particular circumstances of each individual case. The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service of my Department has growing experience of marriages being entered into for the sole purpose of enabling the foreign national spouse to enter and/or remain in the State. The fact that in many cases where a suspicion arises as to the bona fides of the marriage the foreign national may in fact be unlawfully in the State or residing in the State on the basis of a temporary or limited permission is a significant factor in this regard.

While there are no definitive figures, the information available to me does indicate that there are significant numbers of cases where such an inference can be drawn having regard to the numbers refused or the doubts expressed as to the bona fides of a marriage. With regard to applications for residence on the sole basis of marriage to Irish nationals, 14 applications were refused in 2007 on the basis that the deciding officer was not satisfied as to the bona fides of the marriage in question with a further 53 applications abandoned. With regard to applications for residence on foot of marriage to a Union citizen approximately 30% of those cases involved persons who were illegally present in the State or on a temporary or limited permissions thereby giving rise to a suspicion that the marriage is one of convenience for the purpose of circumventing immigration controls. Further indicators of a problem are to be found in highly unusual patterns of marriages and intelligence in relation to inducements being offered in certain European Union Member States for their nationals to marry third country nationals.