Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on whether the time taken to process an application in respect of a person (details supplied) is acceptable; if his attention has been drawn to the academic achievements of this applicant and the support to them to undertake a Phd programme should their application be approved; if he will reconsider the application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4820/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned lodged an application for asylum at the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner on 19th December, 2007. Following investigation by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, it was established that the person concerned had previously lodged an application for asylum in Italy, on 26th March, 2003. Arising from his previous asylum history in Italy, and in accordance with the provisions of the Dublin II Regulations, a determination was made that the person concerned should be transferred to Italy for the purposes of having his asylum application examined there. Consequently, a Transfer Order was made in respect of the person concerned. This Order was formally served on the person concerned, by letter dated 10th March, 2008, which placed a legal obligation on him to 'present' himself at the Offices of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), on Thursday 13th March, 2008, to make arrangements for his formal transfer to Italy. The person concerned failed to 'present' on this occasion and was therefore classified as having 'evaded' his transfer. This position continued to obtain with the consequence that the Transfer Order eventually expired and Ireland then became responsible for examining the asylum claim.

The asylum claim of the person concerned was examined by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, both of whom concluded that the person concerned did not meet the criteria for recognition as a refugee. Arising from the formal refusal of his asylum claim, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 14th September, 2010, that the then Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of him. He 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 him. He was also notified of his 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. At that point, all representations submitted by and on behalf of the person concerned, including the information included with the Deputy's Question, 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 will appreciate that issues relating to educational supports are the responsibility of the Minister for Education and Skills and the agencies operating under the aegis of his Department. I, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, have no function in such matters.

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.