Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 167: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedures to be followed in respect of an application for residency in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Laois; the degree to which the full circumstances in their case was taken into account in the determination of their residency; if the original documents can be returned to the person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30479/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned applied for asylum on 25th June, 2009. In accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended), the person concerned was entitled to remain in the State until her application for asylum was decided. Her asylum application was examined by the two statutory independent refugee status determination bodies, namely 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. In assessing each individual asylum application or appeal, the bodies referred to must, in accordance with their statutory remit, have regard for the specific claims made by an applicant as measured against objective, reputable, up to date information relating to the applicant's country of origin and, where doubts exist, the benefit of the doubt is applied in favour of the applicant. I understand that copies of the determinations made by the two bodies were sent to the person concerned and to her then legal representatives so the person concerned will be able to see from those documents the basis for the conclusions reached in her particular case.

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 6th April, 2011, 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. In addition, she was notified of her entitlement to apply for Subsidiary Protection in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006.

The person concerned submitted an application for Subsidiary Protection. When consideration of this application has been completed, the person concerned will be notified in writing of the outcome. In the event that the application for Subsidiary Protection is refused, the position in the State of the person concerned will then 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 a final decision is made. Once a decision has been made, this decision and the consequences of the decision will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned. The Deputy should note that documents submitted by an applicant as evidence of identity or nationality, or in support of a case to remain in the State, can only be returned to that applicant once the case has had a definitive outcome.

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.