Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 301: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will clarify the residency status of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10740/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I refer the Deputy to my reply below to Parliamentary Question No. 164 of 14 October 2008, Parliamentary Question No. 264 on Tuesday 3 February 2009, Parliamentary Question No. 197 on Wednesday 1 July 2009, Parliamentary Question No. 277 on Tuesday 8 December 2009 and Parliamentary Question No. 134 on Thursday 25 November 2010. The status of the person concerned remains largely unchanged since then.

The person concerned applied for asylum on 9th January, 2002. His 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 his 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 10th June, 2003, that the Minister proposed to make 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 making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against him. Representations were received on behalf of the person concerned at that time.

Following the consideration of his 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 8th August, 2004.

This Order was served by registered post dated 12th 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 his removal from the State. The person concerned 'presented' as required.

On 28th 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 him. The Judicial Review Leave application was refused on 29th November, 2006. The person concerned was advised by registered letter dated 9th January, 2007 that as the judicial review proceedings had been determined, it was intended to proceed with his removal from the State. He was required to 'present' at the Offices of the GNIB on Monday 15th January, 2007 in order to make arrangements for his removal from the State. He 'presented' as required and was given further presentation dates.

An application for Subsidiary Protection was made on behalf of the person concerned, by his legal representative, under cover of a letter dated 23rd 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 9th 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 10th October, 2006. Accordingly, the Subsidiary Protection application submitted by the person concerned cannot be considered.

The person concerned, through his 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, he is legally obliged to comply with any reporting requirements placed on him 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.