Vol. 542 No. 2
436 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if, regarding the list of persons issued with certificates of naturalisation, published in Iris Oifigiúil on 5 October 2001 he will give the number of cases where conditions for naturalisation were dispensed with; the number of these cases where certificates were issued under the passports for investment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23679/01]
Records in my Department are not maintained in such a way that would readily disclose whether or not any of the statutory conditions for naturalisation were dispensed with in respect of the persons whose names appeared in Iris Oifigiúil. It is not possible to provide this information without an examination of each file which would involve a disproportionate expenditure of staff resources. However, separate records are maintained in relation to persons naturalised under the investment based naturalisation scheme. Applications by three of the 859 persons whose names were included in Iris Oifigiúil on 5 October 2001 were processed under that scheme.
Two of these persons were the spouse and minor child of an investor who had been naturalised under the scheme in 1996. The other case related to an application by an investor which had been made prior to the suspension of the scheme by the previous Government on 4 September 1996.
437 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a decision will be made on an application by a person (details supplied) in County Dublin for naturalisation. [23681/01]
An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in my Department on 19 April 2001 and is in the early stages of the process. As all applications are dealt with in chronological order, it is likely that the application of the person referred to in the Deputy's question will be finalised sometime in the second half of next year. As soon as I have reached a decision on the matter, both the applicant and the Deputy will be informed of the outcome.
