Mr. Michael Kirrane:

First, this is not a change of policy. The Act is fairly clear in terms of what it sets out. It looks for a permanent residency for all of the previous year and the exception is given on an administrative basis by the Minister that he will allow for a period of six weeks to be excluded from that in considering the decision. That has always been the case. That was to cater for people going back on holidays over the period of time. It is not the case that the rule is that we are introducing a six weeks period that is excluded. It is that we are allowing, beyond what is in the Act, a period of six weeks for people to cater for removal, if they want to go back on holidays, etc.

We do look at individual cases. Where, for example, particularly with the mobility of the workforce in more recent times, people may have need to go abroad to do some work for a period of time in that last year, we take that into account. Ultimately, we are not there to stop people from getting citizenship but, equally, we must apply the law. That is part of what we do. We try to be reasonable about that, and that is where the six week period came in. That is not something new. This has always been the case.