Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 September 2014
141. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a long-term residency-eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36417/14]
View answerI have been informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned was granted temporary permission to remain in the State on 4 August, 2005 for 2 years under the revised arrangements for the non-EEA parents of children born in Ireland prior to 1 January, 2005, commonly known as the IBC/05 Scheme. This permission was renewed on a regular basis and it is currently valid up to 4 August, 2016.
An application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person concerned which was recently refused. The person concerned was informed of this refusal and the reasons for it in a letter issued on 25 July, 2014. However, it is open to the person in question to lodge a new application if and when she is in a position to meet the statutory requirements applicable at that time.
The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and I know the Deputy will appreciate that it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.
I should remind the Deputy that queries in relation to the status of individual Immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by Email using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specially established for this purpose. The service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek this information through the more administratively expensive Parliamentary Questions process.
