Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014

PART 5

Amendment of Immigration Act 2004 and Aliens Order 1946

Amendment of Immigration Act 2004

35. The Immigration Act 2004 is amended—

(a) in section 1, by deleting the definitions of “registration district” and “registration officer” and substituting the following:

“ ‘registration district’ means a registration district prescribed under section 9A (inserted by section 35 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014);

‘registration officer’, subject to subsection (4) of that section, means a registration officer appointed under section 9A (inserted by section 35 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014);”,

(b) in section 9(6), by deleting paragraph (a),

(c) by inserting the following after section 9:

“Registration districts and registration officers

9A. (1) The Minister may, for the purpose of the efficient and effective administration of this Act, prescribe an area (which area may consist of the whole or any part of the State) to be a registration district.

(2) The Minister may by order appoint a person, being—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of Superintendent, or

(b) an officer of the Minister, not below the rank of assistant principal officer,

to be the registration officer of the registration district specified in the order.

(3) A registration officer may delegate any of his or her functions (other than this power of delegation) under this Act to—

(a) in the case of a registration officer to whom subsection (2)(a) applies, a member of the Garda Síochána, and

(b) in the case of a registration officer to whom subsection (2)(b) applies, an officer of the Minister.

(4) Where a function of a registration officer is delegated under subsection (3) —

(a) that function may be performed, under the general control of the registration officer concerned, by the person to whom it is delegated,

(b) the delegation does not preclude the registration officer from performing the function delegated, and

(c) a reference, in a provision of this Act relating to the function, to a registration officer includes a reference to the person to whom the function has been delegated.”,

and

(d) by deleting section 14 and substituting the following:

“Provision for particular non-nationals

14. (1) The Minister, an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána may, by notice in writing, require a non-national who does not have permission to be in the State to comply with any or all of the following conditions:

(a) that he or she reside or remain in a particular district or place in the State;

(b) that he or she report at specified intervals to—

(i) an officer of the Minister, an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána specified in the notice, or

(ii) the registration officer of the registration district in which he or she is resident;

(c) where, and only for so long as, it is reasonably necessary to facilitate his or her removal from the State in accordance with any enactment or other law, that he or she surrender his or her passport and any other travel document that he or she holds,

and the non-national shall comply with the requirement.

(2) A non-national who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Where a non-national who is complying with a notice under subsection (1)(c), as a result of that compliance, fails to comply with the requirements of section 12(1) (as amended by section 34 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 )—

(a) his or her compliance with the notice shall constitute reasonable cause for the purposes of section 12(2)(b), and

(b) in proceedings referred to in section 12(2)(b), a certificate signed by the Minister, an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána stating that the non-national concerned was, at the time of the alleged offence under section 12, in compliance with the notice, shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be proof of that fact.

(4) In this section, ‘enactment’ means—

(a) an Act of the Oireachtas,

(b) a statute that was in force in Saorstát Éireann immediately before the date of the coming into operation of the Constitution and that continues in force by virtue of Article 50 of the Constitution, or

(c) an instrument made under—

(i) an Act of the Oireachtas, or

(ii) a statute referred to in paragraph (b).”.