AN IRISH man whose Chinese-born wife and two children are all Irish citizens has brought a legal challenge to the State’s refusal to allow her widowed mother live with them in Ireland.
The action is regarded as a test case relating to the rights of Irish citizens to have their non-EU dependent relatives live with them here.
John Moylan, who works in RTÉ, and his wife, Tingting, a naturalised Irish citizen, want her mother, Lihua Wang, to live with them as a dependant.
They say they can and will pay all her costs, including private health insurance, so Ms Wang would not be any burden on the State.
The Moylans, with an address at Lusk, Co Dublin, claim the Minister for Justice’s refusal to grant Ms Wang a residence permit for five years amounts to unlawful discrimination.
They claim they are being treated differently to non-Irish EU nationals who live here and are entitled under an EU directive on freedom of movement to have their dependent parents reside with them here on the basis of a five-year permit. They also claim the refusal is depriving their children, Gerard (7) and Michael (22 months), of the company of their grandmother.
They are seeking leave to bring judicial review proceedings challenging the refusal of residence in a hearing before Mr Justice John Edwards.
Opening the case, Michael Lynn, for the Moylans, said the “essence of family” is that a young dependent person is looked after by their parents and an older dependent adult is looked after by their adult children.
In this case, the Minister had given no discernible reason for his refusal to allow Ms Moylan look after her mother.
In an affidavit, Ms Moylan said she came to Ireland from China nine years ago and married her husband in 2001. They have two children and all members of the family are Irish citizens. Her husband works full-time with RTÉ and she ran her own company, Nua-Tech, which provides translation and interpreting services.
Ms Moylan said her mother is her only remaining family member in China, her father having died eight years ago.
Her mother was dependent on the Moylans for financial support without which she would be living a poor and difficult life in China.
Her mother has visited her several times here and has always entered the State lawfully, on a visa, she said.
The visits “are extremely important to us all and, in particular, my children”.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland had written on behalf of the family a number of times seeking a five-year residency permit.
