Speaking today at the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in
Luxembourg the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence Alan Shatter T.D.
alerted his colleague Ministers to his serious concern about highly
irregular patterns of marriage in Ireland involving EU nationals and third
country nationals in the context of the exercise of EU freedom of movement
rights.
In a strongly worded intervention at the meeting the Minister said “Free
movement is a fundamental right for citizens of the EU. However, evidence
is emerging in Ireland that this very fundamental right of all EU citizens
is being abused by those seeking to circumvent proper immigration controls
on entering the Union. One such abuse is the evidence of highly unusual
patterns of marriage involving EU citizens and third country nationals. For
example, last year almost 400 applications for residence were lodged in
Ireland by non EEA nationals on foot of their marriage to Latvian
nationals. The non EEA nationals in question were from Pakistan and to a
lesser degree, the Ukraine and India.”
Minister Shatter told the meeting that prior to entering Government, he had
been outspoken on this issue; upon entering Government earlier this year he
had asked his officials to look anew at the provision in the Immigration
Residence and Protection Bill to draft amendments dealing with immigration
related marriages of convenience and sham marriages. While he acknowledged
that there is no magic bullet to deal with this issue, he stated he will be
bringing forward proposals on it when he reintroduces this Bill in the Dail
shortly.
Minister Shatter also welcomed the significant attention being given by the
Gardaí to tackle abuses in this area which has led to arrests and to other
intelligence led operations designed to tackle the problem. Moreover, the
Minister noted that co operation between all the services in this area i.e.
the Gardaí, his own Department and the Superintendent of Marriage
Registrars, has been stepped up. His own Department has also introduced
interviews of selected applicants and their spouses with a view to
establishing if the marriage between the parties was entered into solely
with the intention of seeking residence rights.
Minister Shatter, whose concerns about abuses in this respect were shared
by the UK Home Secretary Ms Therese May, went on to say that there is a
real and demonstrable need to ensure EU residential rules are not exploited
by the creation of sham marriages, he also called for greater harmonisation
among Member States in their asylum determination and protection systems.
The Minister stated that “We must at all times be fully alert to the needs
of those fleeing persecution, and fully comply with our international
obligations under the Hague Convention of 1951 to provide protection and
must also ensure that divergences in our systems do not result in
inconsistent and contradictory decisions by EU Member States.”