Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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12. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to regularise undocumented migrants living here. [13284/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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At EU level, Member States, including Ireland, agreed back in 2008 that they would deal with regularisation only on a case by case basis and the Government continues to support this position.

Ireland has shown itself to be a country that welcomes foreign nationals and this is abundantly clear from our census figures and from our citizenship ceremonies. More than 80,000 people have been naturalised in the past 4 years.

However we are entitled to expect that people coming here will obey our laws, including those that relate to immigration. It is open to any foreign national who finds him or herself in an undocumented situation to apply to the authorities for permission to remain. Cases are carefully considered before a decision is made and it is reasonable for the State to expect that people will respect that decision. It should also be remembered that most people become undocumented through their own conscious actions or omissions. Recognising that in a minority of instances that may not be the case, the Department has operated a scheme to address the situation of those who became undocumented through no fault of their own.