Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 966: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason a person (details supplied) in County Wexford has fallen short of the requirements for naturalisation; if his Department received the confirmation which it sought from this person regarding reckonable residence in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24934/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in the citizenship section of my Department on 24 February 2003.

The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister may, at his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled, including where the applicant has 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, has had a total residence in the State amounting to four years.

It should be noted that in the context of naturalisation certain periods of residence in the State are excluded. Those 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. Generally speaking, immigration stamps in an applicant's passport are used to determine periods of permission to remain in the State.

It appears that the person concerned is unable to provide documentary evidence that he has had permission to remain in the State for the periods during which he maintains he has been resident here. Officials in the citizenship section have been corresponding with him in respect of the matter and the contents of a letter received in June from a group representing the person concerned are being considered at present.

I will advise both the Deputy and the person concerned when the matter has been fully considered.