Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

54. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will address a query from a person (details supplied) in County Cork about an Irish citizen marrying a non-European Union citizen. [44286/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 was signed into law in December 2014 and contains a wide range of provisions.

The right to marry is a basic right and the institution of marriage is protected under our Constitution. EU citizens and their families have the right to move and reside freely within the territories of the Member States. Following a ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Metock case in 2008, the right of EU citizens and their families to move and reside freely within the territories of the Member States was extended to non-EU national spouses of non-Irish EU nationals. However, these rights are being abused by unscrupulous individuals who are using marriage laws in Ireland to gain an automatic right of residency in the EU. There is concern that a potential link exists to the trafficking of women, particularly young women, where they are coerced into taking part in marriages of convenience.

The Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 includes provisions that make it more difficult to broker a marriage of convenience in the State. This is achieved by making a marriage of convenience an impediment to marriage and allowing a registrar the right to investigate. The Act also provides for increased sharing of information in relation to suspected marriages of convenience between the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Justice and Equality with regard to marriages of convenience.

The provisions related to preventing marriages of convenience taking place in the State were commenced on 18 August 2015.

However, due to industrial action by staff of the Civil Registration Service in the Health Service Executive (HSE), the scheduling of interviews, where one or more of the parties to the proposed marriage is a non-EU national, is being delayed.

Staffing and resolution of industrial relations issues in the Civil Registration Service are a matter for the HSE. However I am concerned about the matter and my officials, while not directly involved in the dispute, have made the HSE aware of these concerns. I understand that discussions are ongoing and that good progress has been made and it should be possible for marriages, such as that referred to by the Deputy, to go ahead as planned in 2016.