Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an asylum application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Meath; the reason for this delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51687/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The persons concerned are a family unit comprising a father, a mother and two minor children. The father and mother lodged asylum applications on 4th November, 2008. The two children were included in their mother's application meaning that any determination or decision made in her case applied equally to the two children. The asylum applications were considered by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, 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 asylum applications, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the persons concerned were notified, by separate letters dated 12th March, 2010, that the then Minister proposed to make Deportation Orders in respect of them. They were 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 them. In addition, they were notified of their respective entitlements to apply for Subsidiary Protection in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006.

The persons concerned submitted applications for Subsidiary Protection. When consideration of these applications has been completed, the persons concerned will be notified in writing of the outcomes.

In the event that the applications for Subsidiary Protection are refused, the position in the State of the persons 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 final decisions are made. Once decisions have been made, these decisions and the consequences of the decisions will be conveyed in writing to the persons concerned.

The cases of the persons concerned are amongst a high volume of such cases which are awaiting decision in my Department at present. However, the Deputy can be assured that there will be no avoidable delay in having the cases of the persons concerned processed to completion.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.