Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 616: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the action he will take to provide a clear system of documentation for the children of legal immigrants under 18 years of age, in order to ensure that they are not left in limbo if anything happens to their parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41185/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Under current national immigration rules a non-EEA national child under 16 years of age who is residing in the State is not required to register his/her presence with the Garda National Immigration Bureau. The child would be regarded as present in the State on the basis of the parents' immigration permission. On reaching 16 years of age they are required to be registered in their own right and are issued with a GNIB card.

The current position regarding registration will change when the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2010 becomes law as it will remove the exemption for those under 16 years of age. This will assist the authorities in having fuller information on non-EEA national children who are residing in the State and will also provide the sort of documentation referred to by the Deputy.