Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I will comment generally on citizenship before returning to the specific question. Our citizenship laws are spread across a series of Acts, and it is my objective to bring together our laws in one codified Act with some reforms therein. In the context of the significant legislative agenda of the Department and obligations we must meet under the EU-IMF agreement, the objective is unlikely to be fulfilled until 2013. In the meantime I hope to bring forward minor amendments and if they cannot be achieved in this legislation, they might be done at a later stage.

The issue raised by Senator Mooney is important and it has been part of the political discussion, although it has not received too much public attention. Other countries across the world in granting citizenship display a variety of approaches and tests, often involving linguistic or historic facets, and there may be elements of the democratic background and tradition of the country. Applicants for citizenship are required to meet certain standards in the tests.

I considered the idea and we will examine it further but no definitive decisions have been made. It would be inappropriate to introduce legislation providing for such a test now. When I came to the Department on 9 March, there were 22,000 outstanding applications for citizenship received by the Department, with 17,000 there in excess of six months. The waiting time is an average of 25 months, so while some people have been waiting for seven or eight months, others have been waiting for between two and half years and three years for the granting of a citizenship application.

I told the House the last day that we have managed to process in excess of 6,000 applications this year, whereas just over 5,000 were processed in the entirety of 2010. It is my objective this year to focus on applying our existing laws humanely and with common sense to address the backlog. I am looking to get us to a position during the first half of next year where anybody applying for citizenship, except where there are exceptional circumstances, will have a decision within six months.

There is a large backlog to address that is putting significant pressure on officials. Some of our systems have been changed in comparison with the approaches of the previous Government, and this has brought about greater efficiencies in the processing of applications. The focus for the next 12 months will be to get to the position outlined, with citizenship ceremonies for people who become Irish citizens. They will see it as a memorable day rather than an ordeal they had to endure in the back of a court. It should be seen by such people and their families as important.

In the overall reform and codification of the law we will return to other issues that may need to be addressed. The matter raised by the Senator is under consideration, although no decision has been made about it. Should an idea of that nature be introduced, we must ensure it does not act as an unfair barrier to individuals becoming Irish citizens. For example, on occasion people may come here and be granted political asylum, with other family members admitted to the country for the purposes of family reunification. They may be elderly and there could be no prospect of them returning to their native countries but they may not develop the full linguistic skills in English that younger people would develop. Historically, this would have been the case with many of the Jewish people escaping pogroms in Europe who arrived in this country in the early part of the last century. In those cases the grandparents spoke Yiddish, with younger people speaking fluent English while not understanding Yiddish. Such people remained in Ireland for many years, and this pattern has been repeated with people from other national backgrounds.

It is important that people who become Irish citizens feel part of this country and integrate within it. They should be part of the local communities and understand our democratic traditions while communicating in our language. An interesting issue which could cause controversy in this House is in which language we want immigrants to become proficient. Would it be Irish or English? Would people be upset if we directed that the language be English as a priority over Irish? If the language was directed to be Irish, how many people would argue that a substantial portion of native Irish citizens are incapable of conducting a conversation in Irish?