Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I will not delay the House for long. I welcome the Minister. I think all Members will agree he deals with these matters in a confident and efficient manner. That this legislation is going through the House has given rise to a number of queries on the general issue of citizenship and applications.

Representations have been made to some of us concerning the long delays in getting decisions made. There has been a considerable reduction in the delays in recent years but there is still a backlog and a delay of, perhaps, two to three years in having applications determined. A matter that has given rise to much discussion on the Bill and the changes in the law generally is whether the Minister will give some indication of what can be done to expedite decisions on applications which are dragging on for many years in some cases.

There is a necessity for some amendment whether to the Bill under discussion or another Bill. It relates to applications for post-nuptial citizenship. The case in question concerns an Irish man who married in the Philippines in 1971 and is now deceased. His widow applied for post-nuptial citizenship but in order to qualify, the marriage must be in existence.