John Curran
Question:158 Mr. Curran asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a decision will be made regarding an application for naturalisation made by persons (details supplied) in Dublin 22. [24857/04]
View answerThursday, 14 October 2004
Questions (158, 159)
Written answers
As I have already informed the Deputy, applications from the three members of the family referred to by the Deputy were received in the citizenship section of my Department in January 2003 and January 2004.
The average processing time for an application for naturalisation is currently 24 months, due to the increase in the volume of applications being received. There are over 650 staff members employed by my Department in the provision of services for or in respect of non-nationals. Unfortunately it has been the case that over 70% of those staff are engaged full-time in activities associated with the actual processing of asylum claims or in the provision of support for asylum applicants. However, the major reduction in the number of asylum applicants is now giving me an opportunity to refocus those resources on areas of service provision for non-nationals which are under resourced at this time. The citizenship area is one of the areas which will benefit from that process.
The applications in question will be processed according to the date they were received and I will inform both the Deputy and the persons concerned as soon as I have reached a decision on the applications.
John Curran
Question:159 Mr. Curran asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a decision will be made regarding an application for naturalisation made by persons (details supplied) in Dublin 22. [24858/04]
View answerThe two persons referred to in the question arrived in the State in 2002 and applied for asylum. Subsequently, they withdrew from the asylum process and applied for leave to remain based on their parentage of an Irish born child. In early 2004, they re-entered the asylum process and their applications for refugee status were then refused by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
On 15 July 2004, in accordance with section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, the persons concerned were informed that it was proposed to make deportation orders in respect of them and they were given the following options: to make written representations within 15 working days to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform setting out reasons they should not be deported; to voluntarily leave the State or to consent to deportation.
Applications for leave to remain in the State were received from the legal representatives of the persons concerned and I expect the case to be submitted to me in due course.