Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 213: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will review the residency status and procedures in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19442/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The persons concerned are a husband and his wife who entered the State on 10th September, 2004, and lodged separate asylum applications on 17th May, 2006. Their asylum applications were considered by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, both of whom concluded that the persons concerned did not meet the criteria for recognition as refugees.

Arising from the refusal of their respective asylum applications, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the persons concerned were separately notified, by letters dated 7th March, 2011, that the Minister proposed to make Deportation Orders in respect of them. They were each 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 Deportation Orders should not be made against them. In addition, they were notified of their respective entitlements to apply for Subsidiary Protection in accordance with the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006.

The position in the State of the persons concerned now falls to be decided by reference to 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. All representations submitted will be considered before the files are passed to me for decision. Once decisions have been made, these decisions and the consequences of the decisions will be conveyed in writing to the persons concerned.

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.