Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I want to raise the general issue of citizenship applications and to illustrate the difficulties by referring to a specific case. It is my information that at this stage there are more than 17,000 applications for citizenship awaiting decision within the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The citizenship section of that Department is overwhelmed by the number of applications with which it must deal. It is incapable of communicating on any reasonable basis with anyone who raises specific queries, including Members of this House. It is completely unable to provide a customer friendly service. Letters from Deputies, Senators, or members of the general public seeking a citizenship application go directly to the section, but then it all disappears into a black hole.

People's lives are being kept on hold while citizenship applications are languishing undecided in the Department for two, three and four years. An example of the difficulties confronting people is illustrated by the case of Mr. Steven Phillips. He came to Ireland in 2000. He has a work permit and has worked here lawfully ever since. He is employed by a leading firm of architects. Mr. Phillips has been involved in a variety of projects of great importance. He was involved in the layout of the conferences during the last European Union Presidency in 2004 and got a Garda clearance for that work. He was a project architect manager for the renovation and refurbishment of the third floor of the premises of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform at 94 Saint Stephen's Green. He was the project manager for the new offices of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism in Killarney. He was involved as project manager in the refit of the offices provided for the new Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. He also was one of two people from his firm who went to Saint Fintan's Cemetery in Sutton to carry out a survey of that cemetery, in order to ensure that proper facilities would be available at the funeral of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey for the dignitaries and others who were to attend, including the media.

Having lived and worked in Ireland on a number of important projects over five years, he applied for citizenship. He applied in December 2005 and he received a response in February 2006, which informed him that his application would be examined further at some time in 2008. In November 2006, he sought a long-term residence permission so that he would not have to renew his residence permission annually. He wrote to the Minister in desperation on 3 July 2007 regarding his application for citizenship and his long-term residence application. He asked whether someone could just deal with the matters, whether someone could respond to some queries he had made, and whether there was any remote chance that his citizenship application might be processed. He received an acknowledgement from the Department on 16 July 2007, but there has been silence since then.

In one of the letters of acknowledgement he received at an early stage, he was asked not to write too often to the Department, because it might get in the way of processing applications. It is now two and a quarter years since this man applied for citizenship. Based on the backlog of cases, there is a realistic possibility that his application may not be processed until 2009 or 2010. This is gross maladministration. It is an indication of a public service incapable of providing public service. The public service is treating with contempt applications for Irish citizenship made by foreign nationals lawfully working in this country. It is particularly ironic at a time when we in this State are urging members of the US Congress to grant long-term residence and citizenship to Irish illegals who have been working there for years. This is an example of an individual lawfully working in Ireland — incidentally, he married an Irish citizen a year ago — who would like to be granted Irish citizenship so that he could get on with his life. He and his wife would like to purchase a home for themselves and possibly start their own business.

There is a blockage in all of this. It is not just in the fact that the Department has not processed his citizenship application, but in the fact that he cannot even get any information from the Department. I appreciate the tolerance of the Ceann Comhairle, but I ask that this man's citizenship application be assessed. He already has a security clearance and is obviously self-supporting. He has been involved in jobs on behalf of the Government. I ask that he be granted the citizenship he is seeking. Pending that, someone should at the very least deal with his application for long-term residence, upon which a decision should have been made six months ago.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I speak on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan.

The existing processing time for applications for certificates of naturalisation is approximately 30 months from the date the application is received until such time as the applicant is informed of the Minister's decision. This is primarily due to the significant increase in the volume of applications received in recent years. The number of applications received in 2007 was 8,003, an increase of almost 100% on the number received just three years previously. It appears that this upward trend is set to continue for the foreseeable future. The Minister shares the Deputy's concerns regarding processing times and I understand he has recently allocated additional resources to the citizenship section of his Department so that several categories of applicant can be dealt with more expeditiously than at present. These include refugees, spouses of Irish citizens and applications made on behalf of minors.

The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform may, at his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are that the applicant must be of full age or, by way of exception, be a minor born in the State; be of good character; have had a period of one year's continuous residency in the State immediately before the date of the application and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the State amounting to four years; intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation; and have made, either before a judge of the District Court in open court or in such a manner as the Minister for special reasons allows, a declaration in the prescribed manner of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State.

In the context of naturalisation, certain periods of residence in the State are excluded. These include periods of residence in respect of which an applicant does not have permission to remain in the State, periods granted for the purposes of study and periods granted for the purposes of seeking recognition as a refugee within the meaning of the Refugee Act 1996.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is an honour and applications must be processed in a manner which preserves the necessary checks and balances to ensure that it is not undervalued and is given only to persons who are suitably qualified. Upon receipt, each application is examined to determine if the statutory application is completed fully. Approximately one third of all applications for naturalisation received are not completed correctly, necessitating the forms and accompanying documentation being returned to the applicant with an explanation of the problem involved. Valid applications are examined to determine if the applicant meets the statutory residency criteria set out in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. Passports and other documentation are examined in detail and inquiries with the Garda National Immigration Bureau may also be necessary. Since this procedure was introduced on 1 April 2005, more than 3,500 applicants who applied since that date have been found to have insufficient residency in the State for the purposes of naturalisation. All such applicants are informed of any shortfall in their residency and will be able to re-apply when they have the required residency.

The next stage of the process involves assessing an applicant's financial status in respect of his or her ability to support himself or herself in the State. Inquiries with the Revenue Commissioners and Department of Social and Family Affairs may be necessary in this regard. At the same time, inquiries are also made with the Garda Síochána to ascertain if the applicant can be deemed to be of good character. There may also be circumstances in individual cases which require a greater level of investigation than other cases. Once all inquiries are completed, the file is referred to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a decision.

These procedures have been developed and refined over a number of years and the Minister is satisfied they are necessary to maintain the integrity of the naturalisation process. The Deputy will appreciate that these processes can, by their nature, take some time to complete. Consequently, having regard to the resources available, which are kept under constant review, there is a limit to the reduction in the processing time that can be achieved. The Minister has, however, instructed his officials to undertake a review of the various processes in order that these might be streamlined further where possible.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The same undertaking was made last September. Obviously, nothing has been done in the intervening period.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Should an individual wish to make inquiries, a citizenship helpline operates in the citizenship section of the Department and this is open to public representatives and members of the public. The helpline operates each Tuesday and Thursday between 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. In 2007, in excess of 10,000 calls were processed on this helpline. Information can also be obtained via e-mail or alternatively by accessing the Department's website at www.justice.ie.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Ministers do not reply to e-mails.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister does not accept the Deputy's contention that the Department fails to provide a customer friendly information and response service.

An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in the citizenship section of the Department on 5 December 2005, rather than 2004 as stated by the Deputy.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I referred to 2004.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Officials in the citizenship section are processing applications received in mid-2005 and have approximately 1,000 applications on hand to be dealt with before that of the person concerned. These are generally dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants. It is likely therefore that the individual in question might expect to receive a decision in his case in the coming months.