AT LEAST 100 parents of children with Irish citizenship who were deported from the State have applied to return to Ireland following a landmark European court judgment.
Three-quarters of the applicants for residency are men. The applicants are mainly asylum seekers whose claims for international protection were rejected by the State.
Most are from Nigeria, the country that receives by far the largest number of deportation flights from Ireland every year.
The Department of Justice said yesterday it had already granted a small number of the applications for residency, and refused a small number. But most of the applications are still being considered, it said in a statement.
The department said any person granted a visa to travel to the State must fund their own travel costs.
In March, the European Court of Justice ruled the non-EU parents of a child with EU citizenship must be allowed to live and work in that EU state. The case arose in relation to two Colombian nationals, Ruiz Zambrano and his wife, who were refused asylum in Belgium. While awaiting a decision on their application, the woman gave birth to two children who acquired Belgian nationality.
Following the ruling, which is binding on all EU member states, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announced a review of Government policy, which had previously been to deport parents with Irish children if the parents were found to be illegally in the State.
Since 2005 at least 20 Irish children have left the State with parents who were deported.
The department said it was still not clear how many children with Irish citizenship were looking to re-enter the State following the ruling. This would only become clear when individual visa applications were being examined, it said.
Parents of Irish children seeking residency must apply to the Irish Embassy or consulate in their country. They are required to produce documentation and may have to provide DNA evidence before a visa to enter the State can be issued.
The department is also considering the cases of another 1,000 parents of Irish children who are currently living in the State but have no right of residency. Some 181 of these cases have already been granted by the State, while six have been refused.
This figure does not include at least 140 other cases which are before the High Court on foot of judicial review challenges against decisions to deport parents.
The department has assigned nine staff to work on matters related to the Zambrano judgment. It said most applicants could expect a decision on their case in a matter of weeks.
The Irish Refugee Council, which lobbies on behalf of asylum seekers and refugees, welcomed the decision by the Minister in the wake of the European court judgment to reconsider all cases involving children with Irish citizenship.