Varadkar congratulates staff & Gardaí on tackling sham marriages

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has congratulated his staff and An Garda Síochána for making huge inroads in tackling so-called sham marriages.

Since August 2015 marriage Registrars have had the power to question a particular application for marriage if they had concerns about its validity. This power was granted under the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 which made it much more difficult for marriages of convenience to be organised in Ireland.

The GRO has also been co-operating with Gardaí, the Irish National Immigration Service, and the WRC to facilitate the Garda-led Operation Vantage set up to tackle sham marriages.

Between 2015 and 2016 the number of marriages between non-Irish EU and non-EU nationals in this State fell by 58%, from 1,175 to 497.

Minister Varadkar said: “I want to commend staff in the GRO, which comes within the Department of Social Protection, other staff in my Department who were involved in drawing up this legislation, and the Gardaí, for tackling this very serious issue. It’s a great example of inter-agency co-operation and shows the effectiveness of carefully-drafted legislation.”

Marriage Notification received
Date	1/1/2015 to 17/8/2015	1/1/2016 to 17/8/2016	Difference
Total EU and Non-EU Nationals	2200	1658	-542
Total Irish and Non-EU Nationals	1025	1161	+136
Total Non-Irish EU and Non-EU Nationals	1175	497	-678

	2012		2013		2014		2015
Pakistan	180	Pakistan	242	Pakistan	376	Pakistan	396
Bangladesh	61	Bangladesh	79	India	166	Brazil	126
Nigeria	57	India	74	Bangladesh	96	India	125
Brazil	56	Brazil	68	Brazil	87	Bangladesh	73
India	52	Mauritius	53	Mauritius	63	Venezuela	49
Mauritius	44	Nigeria	43	Nigeria	35	Mauritius	41
Egypt	30	Egypt	39	Egypt	28	Egypt	35
United States	18	Algeria	22	United States	28	United States	26
China	14	Moldova	18	South Africa	19	Nigeria	25
Moldova	14	South Africa	18	Ukraine	15	Nepal	20

Ends

Varadkar congratulates staff & Gardaí on tackling sham marriages

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