Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I will convey the suggestions and thoughts of Deputy Gilmore to the Minister, Deputy McDowell. Let me say at the outset on behalf of the Minister, who cannot be here this evening, that he is sympathetic to the situation of the person concerned and has, with his officials, examined all possible avenues to assist her in obtaining Irish citizenship.

Section 8 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that a non-national who is married to an Irish citizen, who is Irish other than by naturalisation, post-nuptial citizenship or honorary citizenship, for a period of at least three years, may lodge a declaration with the Minister accepting Irish citizenship as post-nuptial citizenship. The marriage must be subsisting at the date of lodgement of the declaration. Furthermore, the couple must be living together as husband and wife and the Irish spouse has to submit an affidavit to that effect when the declaration is being lodged.

The person concerned has been married to an Irish citizen for almost 40 years and in the normal course would be entitled to make such a declaration. However, the medical condition of the person's Irish husband appears to rule out the possibility of him being able to make the affidavit that he and his wife are living together as husband and wife. The Deputy has confirmed this in correspondence to the Department. As a result, the person concerned cannot lodge her declaration of Irish citizenship. The Minister has asked me to emphasise that the requirement for the affidavit is set down in law and he does not have any discretionary powers to waive this requirement.

It appears, therefore, that the only option for the person concerned to obtain Irish citizenship is through the process of naturalisation. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts specify a number of requirements with which an applicant for naturalisation has to comply, including having a period of residency in the State prior to applying, being of good character and having an intention to reside in the State once naturalised. The Minister is empowered to waive some or all of these statutory conditions in certain circumstances. One of these circumstances is where the applicant is of Irish descent or, as in the case concerned, Irish associations.

It is clear to the Minister that this is a case where he should exercise his discretionary powers to the fullest extent possible, notwithstanding the fact that the person concerned may, of course, qualify for naturalisation in her own right. He has already indicated to the Deputy that he is favourably disposed to grant an application for naturalisation and he will also ensure that any such application, because of the unusual circumstances in this case, will be prioritised.

However, the person concerned would have to apply in the normal way and her application would be assessed against the statutory provisions in place. Following formal approval of her application, she would be required to swear, in open court, an oath of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State. She would also be required to pay a statutory fee of €634.87. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Fees) Regulations 1993, as amended, set out the fees for citizenship and the fee appropriate to the situation of the person concerned is €634.87. These regulations do not allow the Minister to waive the statutory fees under any circumstances.

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