Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the current or expected residency status in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8396/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The immigration case histories and up to date positions of the two persons concerned, a husband and wife, are almost identical. As a result, for the purposes of this Parliamentary Question, I will deal with the two cases as one.

Both of the persons concerned arrived in the State on 17 August 2004 and applied for asylum the following day. Their respective asylum applications were refused following the individual consideration of their cases by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. The persons concerned then lodged Judicial Review Proceedings in the High Court challenging the decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to reject their asylum appeals. These Proceedings were successful. The persons concerned were afforded a re-hearing of their cases by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. The re-hearing took place but again the Tribunal concluded that the persons concerned did not meet the criteria for recognition as refugees.

Subsequently, in accordance with Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), both were informed, by separate letters dated 20 February 2008, that the Minister proposed to make deportation orders in respect of them. They were each given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a deportation order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why they should be allowed to remain temporarily in the State. In addition, both were separately notified of their entitlement to apply for Subsidiary Protection in accordance with regulations known as the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations, S.I. No. 518 of 2006, which came into force on 10 October 2006. Both of the persons concerned submitted applications for Subsidiary Protection in the State in accordance with these Regulations and these applications are under consideration at present. When consideration of these applications has been completed, the persons concerned will be individually notified, in writing, of the outcome.

In the event that the Subsidiary Protection applications are refused, the individual case files of the persons concerned, including all representations submitted, will then be considered under Section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. When this latter consideration has been completed, the case files of the persons concerned will be passed to me for decision.