The person concerned was granted temporary permission to remain in the State in February 2002, under the arrangements then in place for the non-EEA parents of Irish born children. This permission to remain was renewed on a regular basis and is currently valid until 30 June 2012. I am advised that the daughter of the person concerned was granted permission to remain in line with that granted to her mother on stamp 4 conditions in November, 2011 and her permission is currently valid until 30 June, 2012.
Irish Passports are issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs. However, I am advised by the Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that an application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy in April 2008. I made the decision, at my absolute discretion, to refuse the application. The person concerned was informed of my decision in a letter dated 23 May 2011.
An application was made by the person referred to by the Deputy on behalf of her minor child in December 2009. This application was refused and the applicant parent was notified by letter dated 2 February 2010.
An application for a certificate of naturalisation can be made at any time, if an applicant considers that they are in a position to satisfy the statutory requirements.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.