15.      (1) Subject to sections 21 and 22, a person who has attained the age of 18 years and who is at the frontier of the State or who is in the State (whether lawfully or unlawfully) may make an application for international protection—

(a) on his or her own behalf, or

(b) on behalf of another person who has not attained the age of 18 years and who is at the frontier of the State or who is in the State (whether lawfully or unlawfully), where the person who has attained the age of 18 years is taking responsibility for the care and protection of the person who has not attained the age of 18 years.

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), an application for international protection shall be made in person and shall be made to the Minister.

(3) Subject to sections 21 and 22, a person who makes an application under subsection (1)(a) shall be deemed to also have made an application for international protection on behalf of his or her dependent child where the child is not an Irish citizen and—

(a) at the time of the making of the application by the person, is present in the State and has not attained the age of 18 years,

(b) is born in the State while the person is an applicant, or

(c) not having attained the age of 18 years, enters the State while the person is an applicant.

(4) Subject to sections 21 and 22, where it appears to the Child and Family Agency, on the basis of information, including legal advice, available to it, that an application for international protection should be made on behalf of a person who has not attained the age of 18 years (in this subsection referred to as a “child”) in respect of whom the Agency is providing care and protection, it shall arrange for the appointment of an employee of the Agency or such other person as it may determine to make such an application on behalf of the child and to represent and assist the child with respect to the examination of the application.

(5) An application for international protection shall be made in the prescribed form and shall include—

(a) all details of the grounds for the application, and

(b) all information that would, in the event that section 49, 50, 56 or 57 were to apply to the applicant, be relevant to the decision of the Minister under the section concerned.

(6) The Minister shall notify the High Commissioner in writing of the making of an application for international protection and the notice shall include the name of the applicant, his or her country of origin and such other information as the Minister considers appropriate.