Vol. 538 No. 1
200 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason for the delay in dealing with an application for citizenship by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24; and if he will make arrangements for the application to be processed as soon as possible. [17328/01]
Applications for certificates of naturalisation from the persons referred to by the Deputy were received in my Department on 5 May 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 years.
However, extra resources have recently been allocated to the citizenship area of my Department and further staff are due to be assigned shortly. These resources will impact considerably on the current processing times as the year progresses, and it is likely that the applications of the persons referred to will be finalised by the end of the year.
As soon as full consideration has been given to the applications, I will advise the applicants and the Deputy of my decision.
