Vol. 518 No. 6
483 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will expedite an application for nationalisation for a person (details supplied) in County Waterford; and the reason for the delay in view of the fact that this person has been living in Ireland for 12 years. [12694/00]
An application for naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was submitted to my Department in August 1999.
Due to the various procedures involved in processing an application for a certificate of naturalisation in respect of a person of full age, together with the high number of applications being received, the average processing time is in excess of 18 months. It is likely, therefore, that this case will not be completed until early next year.
As soon as full consideration has been given to this application, I will advise both the applicant and the Deputy of my decision.
