Vol. 525 No. 2
788 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will report on the progress on the application for naturalisation for a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24190/00]
An application for naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in my Department on 19 October 2000. 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 at present is approximately two and a half years.
Extra resources are currently being allocated to the Immigration and Citizenship Division of my Department with a view to, inter alia, reducing the time involved in processing naturalisation applications. These resources will impact considerably on present delays. As soon as full consideration has been given to this application, I will advise both the applicant and the Deputy of my decision.
