Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 332: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons having been refused permission to stay here, who voluntarily leave and subsequently reapply to work here as a non-EEA national; the number who are successful in their application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47083/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, one of the options open to persons faced with the prospect of having a Deportation Order issued in respect of them is that they can seek to return voluntarily to their country of origin. Details of the number of asylum seekers and irregular migrants from non-EU countries who voluntarily repatriated during the period since 2003 are outlined in the following table:

In relation to the number of persons who voluntarily leave and subsequently reapply to work here as a non-EEA national, I can inform the Deputy that, although immigration history is taken into account in visa decisions, my Department does not record the personal and immigration history of visa applicants in a statistical format. Consequently, it is not possible to provide the information requested by the Deputy. I should also inform the Deputy that not every non-EEA national is visa required. Where non-EEA nationals are visa required, visas for the purpose of employment are issued worldwide by both my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Each case is dealt with on its own merits on a case-by-case basis at the time of processing.