Written answers
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Department of Justice, Equality and Defence
Visa Applications
8:00 pm
Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 242: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons refused entry into Ireland by each port of entry for the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011; the nationality of the persons refused entry and the reasons they were denied entry. [8492/11]
Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Section 4 of the Immigration Act, 2004, empowers an immigration officer, on behalf of the Minister, to authorise a non-national to land or be in the State. Sub-section (3) of Section 4 enumerates, at (a) to (k), eleven circumstances which an immigration officer may, on behalf of the Minister, have regard to in refusing to give such authorisation. The following table shows the number of persons refused permission to enter the State each year from 2007 to date in 2011 (valid to 31 March, 2011) by each Port of entry:
| PORT | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
| Border with N. Ireland | 1 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 21 |
| Cobh | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Cork Airport | 18 | 123 | 160 | 188 | 231 |
| Cork Port | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| Donegal Int'l Airport | 2 | 4 | |||
| Drogheda | 5 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Dromad | 1 | ||||
| Dublin Airport | 507 | 2017 | 2717 | 3773 | 4214 |
| Dublin Port | 4 | 135 | 119 | 139 | 181 |
| Dún Laoghaire | 32 | 41 | 167 | 221 | |
| Dundalk | 103 | 502 | 545 | 725 | 595 |
| Galway Airport | 3 | 9 | 11 | ||
| Kerry Airport | 14 | 9 | 20 | 14 | |
| Knock Int'l Airport | 6 | 12 | 15 | 12 | |
| Limerick | 1 | 2 | |||
| Monaghan | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | |
| Other | 3 | 28 | 35 | 57 | 45 |
| Rosslare Port | 12 | 94 | 68 | 115 | 143 |
| Shannon Airport | 3 | 50 | 119 | 132 | 152 |
| Sligo Airport | 1 | 2 | |||
| Waterford Port | 3 | ||||
| Waterford Reg. Airport | 9 | 11 | |||
| TOTAL | 660 | 3031 | 3857 | 5380 | 5854 |
The following table shows the number of persons refused permission to enter the State for each year from 2007 to date in 2011 (valid to 31 March, 2011), under each specific sub-section of the Immigration Act, 2004:
| Sub-section. | Reason for refusal | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
| a | That the non-national is not in a position to support himself or herself and any accompanying dependants. | 65 | 279 | 514 | 737 | 558 |
| b | That the non-national intends to take up employment in the State, but is not in possession of a valid employment permit (within the meaning of the Employment Permits Act 2003). | 16 | 86 | 179 | 214 | 136 |
| c | That the non-national suffers from a condition set out in the First Schedule; | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| d | That the non-national has been convicted (whether in the State or elsewhere) of an offence that may be punished under the law of the place of conviction by imprisonment for a period of one year or by a more severe penalty. | 0 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| e | That the non-national, not being exempt, by virtue of an order under Section 17, from the requirement to have an Irish visa, is not the holder of a valid Irish visa | 179 | 917 | 1009 | 1221 | 1074 |
| f | That the non-national is the subject of - (i) a deportation order (within the meaning of the Act of 1999) or (ii) an exclusion order (within the meaning of that Act), or (iii) a determination by the Minister that it is conducive to the public. | 2 | 32 | 37 | 42 | 22 |
| g | That the non-national is not in possession of a valid passport or other equivalent document, issued by or on behalf of an authority recognised by the Government, which establishes his or her identity and nationality | 182 | 913 | 1006 | 1215 | 1384 |
| h | That the non-national - (i) intends to travel (whether immediately or not) to Great Britain or Northern Ireland, and (ii) would not qualify for admission to Great Britain or Northern Ireland if he or she arrived there from a place other than the | 99 | 309 | 418 | 639 | 497 |
| i | That the non-national, having arrived in the State in the course of employment as a seaman, has remained in the State without the leave of an immigration officer after the departure of the ship in which he or she so arrived | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| j | That the non-national's entry into, or presence in, the State could pose a threat to national security or be contrary to public policy | 2 | 53 | 64 | 56 | 36 |
| k | That there is reason to believe that the non-national intends to enter the State for purposes other than those expressed by the non-national. | 284 | 1144 | 1619 | 2338 | 2583 |
| TOTAL | 829 | 3742 | 4854 | 6468 | 6301 |
A non-national may be refused permission to enter the State under more than one of the above-listed legislative provisions. Therefore the figures recorded in the above table may differ from the number provided in the break-down on an annual basis in the first table above.
The nationality of a person who has been refused leave to land may not be established at the time of arrival in the State, particularly in circumstances where the passport or identification card produced to an immigration officer is discovered to be bogus. In accordance with the provisions of Immigration Act, 2004, every refused person is served a notice in which the reason, or reasons, for refusing an application for a permission to enter the State, is detailed. Information relating to the nationality of persons refused permission to enter the State for each year from 2007 to 2011 is not readily available.
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