Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 282: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date on the determination of residency status in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7237/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned applied for asylum on 6 March, 2002. Her asylum application was considered by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, both of whom concluded that the person concerned did not meet the criteria for recognition as a refugee.

Arising from the refusal of her asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 10 June, 2003, that the Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of her. She 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 making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against her. Representations were received on behalf of the person concerned at that time. Following the consideration of her case, in accordance with the provisions of 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, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform made a Deportation Order in respect of the person concerned on 8 August, 2004.

This Order was served by registered post dated 12 January, 2005 which placed a legal obligation on the person concerned to 'present' at the Offices of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2 in order to make travel arrangements for her removal from the State. The person concerned 'presented' as required.

On 28 February, 2005, judicial review proceedings were lodged in the High Court on behalf of the person concerned, challenging the decision of the then Minister to make a Deportation Order in respect of her. The Judicial Review Leave application was refused on 29 November, 2006. The person concerned was advised by registered letter dated 9 January, 2007 that as the judicial review proceedings had been determined, it was intended to proceed with her removal from the State. She was required to 'present' at the Offices of the GNIB on Monday 15 January, 2007 in order to make arrangements for her removal from the State. She 'presented' as required and was given further presentation dates.

An application for Subsidiary Protection was made on behalf of the person concerned, by her legal representative, under cover of a letter dated 23 March, 2009. While it appeared at that time, based on an earlier High Court Judgment, that a person subject to a Deportation Order could seek the exercise of Ministerial discretion, pursuant to Regulation 4 (2) of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006, to having a Subsidiary Protection application examined, in circumstances where new facts or circumstances had been advanced which demonstrated a change from the position which obtained at the time the Deportation Order was made, this position was overturned by a Supreme Court decision dated 9 July, 2010 which ruled that Minister did not have such a discretion. As a result, it is not open to the Minister to consider an application for Subsidiary Protection from a person who was the subject of a Deportation Order on the date the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 came into force on 10 October, 2006. Accordingly, the Subsidiary Protection application submitted by the person concerned cannot be considered.

The person concerned, through her legal representative, has submitted further representations which are being treated as an application for the revocation of the existing Deportation Order, as provided for under Section 3 (11) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended). This application is under consideration at present. When a decision has been made on that application, the decision, and the consequences of the decision, will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.

In the mean-time, the person concerned remains the subject of a Deportation Order and, as such, she is legally obliged to comply with any reporting requirements placed on her 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 e-mail 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.