asked the Minister for Justice if he has under consideration in his Department at the present time an application from a person (name supplied) for a certificate of naturalisation under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956; the applicant's country of birth, and his country of passport; the date upon which the applicant gave the required notice of his intention to apply for such a certificate; the date on which he ultimately made his formal application; the date and newspaper in which the applicant gave public notice; the dates upon which his formal affidavits were received by the Department; how long the resultant departmental inquiries are likely to take; and what period may be required before a decision is arrived at.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Naturalisation Certificate Application.
6.
It is the established practice that an applicipal' cant for naturalisation must publish in a newspaper a notice of his intention to make the application. The notice, which in this case was published in a daily paper on 5th January, 1970, indicates that any person who has any objection to make may do so in writing to my Department.
Except for this notice of the fact that an application is being made, it has never been the practice to treat applications as other than private and confidential communications, the details of which should be disclosed only by or with the consent of the applicant.
If the Deputy wants either to support or oppose an application from the person to whom the question relates the accepted procedure is that he should put his views in writing and communicate them to me forthwith.