Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the reason a person (details supplied) seeking to obtain a renewal of a permit has had to pay the stated fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39688/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The person who is subject of this question was granted permission to remain in the State pursuant to the provisions of the Immigration Act, 2004, following consideration of an application made to the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) under the Irish Born Child Scheme (IBC/05). Such permission is granted subject to condition that the person receiving such permission does not contravene the laws of the State.

On 15th January 2010 the person attended at Kildare Garda Station to register a renewal of his permission to remain in the State under the IBC/05 Renewal Scheme 2010. However in view of an incident which resulted in the person being convicted of an offence contrary to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 and which is subject of an ongoing appeal, the Immigration Officer granted the person a permission for six months, pending the outcome of that appeal. A second permission, for six months, was again granted to the person on 19th August, 2010, as the appeal had still not been determined by the Courts.

The requirement to pay a prescribed fee in respect of the issuing of a registration certificate is provided for in the Immigration Act 2004 (Registration Certificate Fee) Regulations 2008 (S.I. No. 336/2008). The payment of this fee is not related to the period of validity of the registration certificate.

All visa required foreign nationals who wish to travel outside of the State must obtain a re-entry visa which will facilitate the person's return to the State. Comprehensive information relating to making an application for a re-entry visa is available on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service ( www.inis.gov.ie ). The cost for a single journey re-entry visa is €60.00 whilst a multiple journey re-entry visa may be obtained at a fee of €100.00.

A multiple-re-entry visa can be applied for once the applicant is registered with the Garda National Immigration Bureau ( GNIB ). It will be valid from the date of issue until the expiry date on the Registration Card issued by GNIB or the expiry date of the applicant's passport, whichever is the earliest ( up to a maximum of 5 years).

I have been informed by officials in the Visa Section of my Department that there is no record of a current visa re-entry application having been received from the person referred to by the Deputy, nor is there any record of a fee of €200 having been received from the person concerned in this regard.

I should remind the Deputy that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made direct to INIS by email using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. The service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek this information through the more administratively expensive Parliamentary Questions process.