Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding former asylum seekers who has been given leave to remain but is unable to present a valid passport through no fault of their own; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17765/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Where a person has been granted permission to remain by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS), the provisions of Section 9 (2)(a) of the Immigration Act 2004 require that person to 'register' with the Garda National Immigration Bureau as soon as possible thereafter. In the context of any application for such registration, the person in question would need to have in their possession the following items:

(i) their original permission to remain decision letter,

(ii) their Passport and

(iii) the requisite registration fee.

In the context of the passport related requirement, Section 9 (2)(a) of the Immigration Act 2004 specifically states that "... he, or she, shall, as soon as may be, furnish to the registration officer ........... and, unless he or she gives a satisfactory explanation for the circumstances which prevent his or her doing so, produce to the registration officer a valid passport or other equivalent document, issued by or on behalf of an authority recognised by the Government, which establishes his or her identity and nationality."

In the event that a person making an application for such registration cannot, in spite of their best efforts, obtain a passport then he or she would need to be able to show, through the production of verifiable documentary evidence, the efforts that they have made to obtain a passport and why they were unable to do so. Where such verifiable documentary evidence is produced, the Garda National Immigration Bureau has the discretionary powers to effect registration without the production of a valid passport, however, this discretion will only be exercised in the most limited of circumstances.