Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the procedure to be followed in the event of an application for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4896/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. In the case of a non-national applicant who is the spouse of an Irish national, those conditions are that the applicant must be of full age, be of good character, be married to the Irish citizen for at least three years, be in a marriage recognised under the laws of the State as subsisting, be living together as husband and wife with the Irish spouse, have had a period of one year's continuous residency in the island of Ireland immediately before the date of the application and, during the four years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the island of Ireland amounting to two years, intend in good faith to continue to reside in the island of Ireland 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 other cases the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain more rigorous statutory conditions are fulfilled. Those 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.

It should be noted that, 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.

When an application for naturalisation is received, it is examined immediately to determine if the applicant meets the above mentioned statutory residency criteria. If the applicant fulfils the residency criteria, the application will then be considered in accordance with the other statutory requirements before being passed to me for a decision. At the moment, the average total processing time for such applications is 24 months.

An application form and some explanatory information has been posted to the person concerned. Further information may be obtained from my Department's website www.justice.ie or by telephoning the citizenship section helpline on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at lo-call 1890 551 500 or 01 6167700.