Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2004
263 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason a person (details supplied) in County Louth was refused a certificate of naturalisation, in view of the fact that he has refugee status in this State and has been resident here for almost four years; if a certificate of naturalisation will be issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32074/04]
View answerSection 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that an applicant for naturalisation must have a one year period of continuous residence in the State before the date of the application and a total of four years residence in the State in the eight years preceding that period.
Section 16(g) of that Act provides that I may, in my absolute discretion, waive the statutory conditions in certain circumstances, including where the applicant is a refugee within the meaning of the United Nations convention relating to the status of refugees. In considering applications under this provision, I am generally disposed to waive two years of the normal residency requirement, thereby requiring such applicants to have been resident in the State for three years at the time of application. The calculation of the three year period begins from the date the applicant arrived in the State to seek refugee status. An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in the citizenship section of my Department on 30 October 2002. The applicant arrived in the State on 5 February 2001. As there were no circumstances apparent in the application which would have lead me to depart from the general policy outlined, I decided to refuse application.
