Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 2

Written Answers. - Asylum Applications.

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

373 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of applications for Irish citizenship granted and refused for each of the past three years and to date in the current year; and the number of applications on hand awaiting decision. [21896/00]

Nora Owen

Question:

385 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of post-nuptial citizenships awarded in 1998, 1999 and 2000; the number of applications that were received in each of the past years 1998, 1999 and to date in 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22112/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

I propose to take Questions Nos. 373 and 385 together.

The statistics required by the Deputies are set out in tabular form and are broken down into two categories of citizenship, that is, naturalisation and post-nuptial as follows:

Naturalisation

Number granted:			Number refused:
1997	309	1997	68
1998	372	1998	31
1999	422	1999	69
2000 to date:	100	2000 to date	18

Naturalisation

Number pending1,882

Post Nuptial Declarations

Number of declarations received

	Irish		Foreign*
1997	345	1997	707
1998	330	1998	900
1999	415	1999	827
2000 to date	350	2000 to date	682

Number of declarations accepted**:

	Irish		Foreign*
1997	260	1997	724
1998	282	1998	840
1999	309	1999	708
2000 to date	123	2000 to date	613

Number of declarations refused**:

	Irish		Foreign*
1997	7	1997	3
1998	1	1998	4
1999	Nil	1999	4
2000 to date	Nil	2000 to date	4

Post Nuptial Declarations

Number pending700

*Applications lodged with the embassies abroad come under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The initial processing takes place in the embassies and the applications are finalised by the Department of Foreign Affairs. These applications are sent to my Department only when they are fully processed. The certificates of citizenship are issued by my Department and passed to the Department of Foreign Affairs for distribution to the various embassies around the world.

**The figures shown for declarations accepted and refused in a given calendar year, relate to some cases received prior to the year in question. Refusals in respect of declarations made abroad are dealt with by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

In relation to refusals, the Deputies should note that even in cases where an application has been unsuccessful the applicant can re-apply if circumstances change and a full re-examination of that fresh application is undertaken.

As part of the recent package of measures announced by the Government in relation to increased resources for the immigration and asylum areas, significant additional staffing resources are being allocated to the immigration and citizenship division of my Department with a view,inter alia, to reducing the time involved in processing such applications and improving the service provided. These resources will impact considerably on the present delays.