Vol. 530 No. 3
234 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the status of an Irish citizenship application by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 4; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3567/01]
An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in my Department on 19 December 2000 and is therefore in the initial stages of the process.
Due to the various procedures involved in processing an application for a certificate of naturalisation in respect of a person of full age, together with the high number of applications being received, the average processing time at present is approximately two and a half years.
Extra resources have recently been allocated to the immigration and citizenship division of my Department with a view to, inter alia, reducing the time involved in processing naturalisation applications. These resources will impact considerably on current delays.
As soon as full consideration has been given to this application, I will advise both the applicant and the Deputy of my decision.
