Legislation to ban 'sham marriages' under consideration, says Minister

THE GOVERNMENT was considering legislation to ban “sham marriages”, Minister for Social Protection Eamon Ó Cuív told the Dáil yesterday.

“I am aware that procedures to prevent marriages of convenience are in place in other EU member states, and I would hope that equivalent measures might be introduced here,” he said.

Mr Ó Cuív said the General Register Office had sought legal advice as to its options and would proceed as quickly as possible once it was received.

Mr Ó Cuív said marriages of convenience, or “sham marriages”, were entered into for the purpose of one of the parties gaining an automatic right of residency.

Labour spokeswoman Róisín Shortall said statistics suggested that as many as 15 per cent of civil ceremonies could be “sham marriages”. It was also known, she said, that there had been a huge increase in the number of non-EU citizens applying for residency based on marriage to an EU citizen. She understood the figure was more than 1,000 in the first six months of this year.

“All the indications are, therefore, that this is a significant problem,” Ms Shortall added.

Mr Ó Cuív said it was not possible to state the number of marriages of convenience that had been solemnised in the State, but it was recognised that it was a significant issue. It would be inaccurate and unfair, he said, to characterise all such marriages as “sham marriages”, and it was noteworthy that the number had been falling dramatically this year.

Last year, the figure was 3,362 and to date this year it was 770, he said. Mr Ó Cuív added that there was no such legal offence as a “sham marriage”, but if a marriage was not valid it was not valid.

“My understanding . . . is that the position regarding these marriages is the same as that concerning any other marriage wrongfully entered into,” he added.