Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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128. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when an updated stamp 4 will issue in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Westmeath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46669/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the persons mentioned by the Deputy entered the State on 12/04/2011 and 22/03/2011 respectively. They were granted permission as students until 04/09/2012 and have since remained in the State without permission.

This is in breach of Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act 2004 which provides that no non-EEA national may be in the State other than in accordance with the terms of any permission given to them by or on behalf of the Minister. Furthermore, Section 5(2) of the Act provides that a non-EEA national who is in the State in contravention of subsection (1) is for all purposes unlawfully present in the State.

It would also seem that these persons failed to meet the requirements of Section 9 of the Act of 2004 which sets out the obligations of non-EEA nationals in respect of registration and in particular I would draw your attention to the requirements of Section 9(2)(b) of the Act of 2004. A person who is found in breach of the requirements of the Immigration Act 2004 may have committed an offence. A person found guilty of such an offence is liable, under section 13 of the Act of 2004 to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

INIS is not aware of any application for permission to remain in the State having ever been made by these persons, who should now make arrangements to leave the State immediately as they are currently present here without the permission. They should inform INIS of their departure by providing a copy of the re-entry stamps in their passport after they reach their country of origin. Failure to do so will result in the issuing of notifications of a proposal to deport the persons in question.

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.