Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
827. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 305 of 21 January 2021, if a person (details supplied) is one of the up to 4,000 qualifying applicants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17295/21]
View answerAny person whose application is being considered as part of the 4,000 qualifying applicants will be contacted directly by the Citizenship Division of the Immigration Service of my Department so that they may engage with the process.
The application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible.
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. 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.
