Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2009
362 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, further to Parliamentary Question No. 389 of 22 April 2009, if a further copy of the information sought by the Irish naturalisation and immigration service will be forwarded to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 1; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22311/09]
View answerI am currently unable to answer the Deputy's Question due to the lack of information provided by the Deputy. I have been informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service that further information was sought regarding details of the person referred to by the Deputy from the Deputy's office in April 2009. This information has not yet been received by my officials.
363 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when an application for citizenship will be processed in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22312/09]
View answerAn application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's Question was received in the Citizenship Division of my Department in July 2008. Applications for certificates of naturalisation are dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants. The average processing time from application to decision is now at 23 months. The Citizenship Division is currently commencing further processing of applications received in late 2007. More complicated cases can at times take more than the current average while an element of straight forward cases are now being dealt with in less than that time scale. There is a limit to the reduction in the processing time that can be achieved as applications for naturalisation must be processed in a way which preserves the necessary checks and balances to ensure that the status of citizenship is not undervalued and is only given to persons who genuinely satisfy the necessary qualifying criteria.
