Citizenship Applications.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 February 2008

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

Questions (443, 444)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

543 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the breakdown of the processing time in relation to the approximate 30 month processing time for naturalisation applications regarding the average length of time between the time an application is received and a determination is made of the applicant’s eligibility under the 60 month residency requirement, the average length of time between the time the eligibility determination is made and the commencement of further processing and the average length of time between the commencement of further processing and his final decision in the application. [4605/08]

Written answers

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy Brian Lenihan)

The Deputy will appreciate that the level of complexity of any given application for naturalisation will determine the length of time taken to process that application to a conclusion. In circumstances where each application is examined and processed on an individual basis, any attempt to estimate the length of time taken for each stage of processing would be inappropriate and misleading.

Beverley Flynn

Question:

544 Deputy Beverley Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a decision has been made on an application for naturalisation for a person (details supplied) in County Mayo. [4608/08]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy Brian Lenihan)

An application for certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's Question was received in the Citizenship section of my Department in March 2007. Officials in that section are currently processing applications received in July 2005 and have approximately 10,800 applications on hand to be dealt with before that of the person concerned. These are generally dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants.

However, I understand that the person concerned is a refugee. In accordance with the Government's obligations under the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, every effort is made to ensure that applications from persons with refugee status are dealt with as quickly as possible, having regard to the general volume of applications on hand. It is likely, therefore, that further processing of the application will commence in November 2008. I will inform the Deputy and the person in question when I have reached a decision on the matter.