Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 161: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if he will review the deportation order in respect of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43220/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that these children arrived in the State on 24 April 2005 with their mother and applied for asylum. Their applications were refused following detailed consideration of their cases by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

Subsequently, in accordance with Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 the children along with their mother were informed, by letter dated 26 March 2006, that the Minister proposed making deportation orders in respect of them. They were given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of Deportation Orders or of submitting written representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why they should be allowed to remain in the State. Notification of entitlement to apply for Subsidiary Protection in the State, in accordance with the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations, 2006 (S.I. No. 518 of 2006) was subsequently issued. A Subsidiary Protection application was submitted in accordance with these Regulations.

The father of the family arrived in the State on 11 September 2007 and applied for asylum. He was informed, by letter dated 22 September 2010, that the Minister proposed making a Deportation Order in respect of him. He was 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 submitting an application for subsidiary protection and/or submitting written representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why he should be allowed to remain in the State. He submitted a Subsidiary Protection application on 13 October 2010, which has yet to be considered.

The children and their mother were notified by letter dated 20 July 2007 that they were not eligible for Subsidiary Protection in the State and that the Minister would proceed to consider whether Deportation Orders should be made in respect of them. Following extensive consideration of their cases 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, Deportation Orders were signed in respect of them on 26 February 2008. These Orders were served, by letter dated 11 March 2008 and required them to present themselves at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) on a specified date and time in order to make travel arrangements for their deportation from the State.

Representations were recently received from a member of the family asking that her and her family's Deportation Orders be stopped. This letter is being treated as an application for revocation of the Deportation Orders in accordance with the provisions of Section 3(11) of the Immigration Act, 1999 and is under consideration at present. When a decision has been made on that application, that decision, and its consequences will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned. The children and their mother are still the subject of valid Deportation Orders and should continue to meet reporting requirements as directed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

I should remind the Deputy that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly 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.