Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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599. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons presenting with a date of birth which would make them under 18 years of age at the time their case was opened who entered the international protection process in 2020 and 2021 respectively but were noted as not being unaccompanied minors; if she will provide a breakdown by nationality; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17675/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Provided that they are are not an Irish citizen, a dependent child under 18 years of age will be deemed to be included in the application of whichever parent presents to the International Protection Office (IPO) of my Department with the child. This presumption applies whether or not the child was present in the State at the time the parent’s application was made.

Therefore, if a parent makes an application for international protection, they will be deemed to have also made an application on behalf of their dependent child who is not an Irish citizen and

- at the time of the making of the application, is present in the State and is under 18 years of age, or

- is born in the State while their parent is an applicant, or

- who is under 18 years of age and enters the State (Ireland) while their parent is an applicant.

If a parent is applying for international protection and has dependent children, they must bring them with them to the IPO Office when applying, or as soon as possible thereafter if a child is born after the parent has made an application for international protection, or if they arrive in the State after their application is made.

The table below provides the number of applications made on behalf of dependent minors in 2020 and 2021 by nationality.

*Where the number of applications for individual countries is low (less than 6), a breakdown by country is not provided. This is for reasons of confidentiality, as provided for under Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015.