European Court decision gives Irish children the right to have their parents live and work in Ireland

9 Mar 2011

New Communities Partnership welcomes this judgment as it will greatly reduce the hardship suffered by many immigrant families who have been separated because of the denial of their family rights.This judgment means that all European citizen children will now enjoy equal rights without discrimination on the basis of their parentage.

A ruling in the Grand Chambers of the European Court of Justice in the case of Zambrano goes against Ireland's practice of refusing to give some parents of Irish children permission to live and work in Ireland. This judgement relates to a Belgian case but significantly bolsters the rights of all minor European Union citizens, including minor Irish citizens of non national parentage many of whom have been effectively denied the enjoyment of their citizenship rights in Ireland as a result of the practice of denying their parents a right to live and work in the state.

This ruling is expected to have a significant impact on the lives of many immigrant families as third country national parents of minor Irish citizens who have previously been denied the right to reside and work in the State may now have the right to do so.
The Court has held that member States are required to allow third country nationals who are parents of a child who is a national of an EU member State to reside and work in the State where the refusal to do so will deprive the child of the enjoyment of the rights attached to the status of citizenship of the union.