Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if long-term residence visas can be granted to those who are applying for naturalisation and if so, the maximum period allowed. [35030/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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In the discussion document, Immigration and Residence in Ireland, which I published in April of this year and circulated to all Members of this House, it is proposed that a new status of "long-term resident" should be introduced in the forthcoming Immigration and Residence Bill. There is currently no separate status of "long-term resident" in the Irish immigration system. While a person could after a period of time obtain permission to remain without condition as to time, this still left some uncertainty as to the entitlements associated with it. There has been criticism that the only effective long-term residence status which a non-national could obtain in Ireland is by way of naturalisation.

In the development of the Immigration and Residence Bill, my Department is currently working on a scheme for granting long-term residence status. The model which would be followed is broadly in line with the European Council directive on the status of long-term residents.

As regards the possibility of granting long-term resident status to applicants for naturalisation, I should point out that when a future scheme is introduced, the granting of long-term resident status will not be an automatic process. The process must be initiated by an application from an eligible migrant. While the criteria for long-term resident status are likely to be less onerous than the requirements for naturalisation, all applications for long-term resident status will nonetheless have to be assessed on their individual merits.