Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 471: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to address the level of communication between his Department and the Department of Social Protection which often results in immigrants who are often refused in the first instance but then succeed on appeal; and his plans to ensure better information co-ordination between Departments. [35856/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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On the assumption that the Deputy is referring to applications for social welfare assistance made by non-nationals to the Department of Social Protection, decisions on such applications are solely a matter for that Department and my Department has no role or function in relation to that process. In that context it is unclear as to what the Deputy means by poor communication between my Department and the Department of Social Protection. I can assure him that there is ongoing cooperation between our respective Departments at both an operational and policy level on all issues where such cooperation is required.