Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
775. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the progress to date in the determination of an application for residency status and eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16355/21]
View answerAn application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy is currently being processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible. If any further documentation is required, it will be requested from the person in due course.
An application for renewal of permission to remain was also received from the person concerned on 5 June 2020, which is being processed . The person concerned has permission to remain in the state until 20 September 2021, under the most recent temporary extension of immigration and international protection permissions that I announced last Friday.
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 it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.
It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. However, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, 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 Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
