Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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618. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons granted stamp 4 permission to remain who at the time they were granted permission had a protection application pending in each of the years 2015 to 2020 inclusive; the number of persons in the protection process who were granted a stamp 4 permission to remain after their protection application was refused under four categories (details supplied) in each of the years 2015 to 2020 inclusive, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8446/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Based on the historical international protection and permission to remain processes, it would have been most unusual for a person to be granted permission to remain while they had a protection application pending. It was only after all protection elements had been refused that permission to remain could be considered, under the process provided for under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended).

Under that process, permission to remain could be granted where a decision was taken that, based on the circumstances of the individual case, a Deportation Order should not be made and instead permission to remain in the State should be granted. Any such decision would be based on the exercise of ministerial discretion. In the context of the question asked by the Deputy I can advise that there are no separate categories of “exceptional measure” or “exceptional circumstance” under which such a decision might be made.

Between 2015 and 2020 permission to remain in the State, as outlined in the table below, was granted in the context of persons who had had an application for international protection (incorporating both refugee status and subsidiary protection) refused under the processes provided for under the Refugee Act 1996 and the Subsidiary Protection Regulations 2006 and 2013.

Table 1

For people whose applications for international protection were determined under the provisions of the International Protection Act 2015, there is scope to be granted permission to remain in the State, under section 49(4) of that Act, while they have an international protection appeal pending. The provisions of this Act came into force on 31 December 2016, therefore figures for permission to remain under section 49 of that Act will only be available in respect of the years from 2017 onwards.

Under the 2015 Act, permission to remain in the State may be granted at first instance or following a formal permission to remain review mechanism. Where the decision is made at first instance, a protection appeal can still be lodged with the International Protection Appeals Tribunal. Any decision taken to grant permission to remain under the permission to remain review mechanism can only be made once the protection appeal has been refused.

Tables 2 and 3 below set out the figures relating to those cases where permission to remain was granted under section 49 of the International Protection Act 2015. Table 2 gives the number of decisions made by the International Protection Office at first instance and Table 3 gives the number of decisions issued by the Ministerial Decision Unit under the PTR review mechanism.

Table 2

Grants of permission to remain at first instance*

*Applicants received a negative international protection determination at first instance.

Table 3

*Applicants received a negative international protection determination at first instance which was upheld at appeal and the application was returned to the IPO for a review of the PTR decision.

For people who were granted permission to remain in the State under the Administrative Scheme for parents of Irish citizen children in the years between 2015 and 2020, there would be no barrier to being granted such permission while they had an international protection application pending.

Table 4

* applicants had an Asylum/International Protection decision pending when permission to remain on the basis of an Irish Born Child/Irish Citizen Child was granted.