Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 455: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12 will be informed of a decision relating to their application for a certificate of naturalisation; when the application will be decided upon; the reason this person has never received an acknowledgement of the numerous communications they have made to his Department to update his Department regarding their location since making their application in January 2004; the further reason for the long delay in processing this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter of lengthy delays in processing such applications. [16401/06]

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. 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; and intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation; 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 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.

The person in question arrived in the State in February 1996 and claimed asylum. This application was refused and he lodged an appeal in August 1998. He later withdrew this appeal on the basis that he was applying for leave to remain in the State as the parent of an Irish born child. He was granted such permission in July 2000.

An application for naturalisation from the person concerned was received in my Department on 13 January 2004 through Focus Ireland. Receipt of the application was acknowledged in writing to that group on 21 January 2004. The case file of the person concerned indicates that a further letter was received from Focus Ireland on 8 February 2006. Due to an oversight this letter was not acknowledged but there is no record on file of any other correspondence having been received, either directly from the applicant or from Focus Ireland.

This application was examined recently and it was determined that the person concerned did not have the necessary 5 years reckonable residence at the time he applied. However, he has submitted his application on the basis that he has formed Irish associations through the parentage of his Irish born child and his relationship with the child's Irish mother. The file is due to be referred to me in the near future to determine if this is an appropriate case where I should exercise my discretionary powers to grant naturalisation notwithstanding that the person concerned does not fulfil the statutory conditions. I will be in touch with the Deputy and the applicant when I have made a decision in the matter.

With regard to the processing time for applications for naturalisation, I set out the current position in my response to Parliamentary Question No. 17 on 27 April 2006.

John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 456: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when an application for naturalisation will be processed for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16413/06]

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 23 February 2006.

The first stage in the naturalisation process is to determine if the applicant satisfies the statutory residency criteria. In this regard, it has been necessary to seek clarification of some matters from the person concerned and a letter to this effect issued to him on 25 April 2006. If the individual in question has the required residency his application will be stored for further processing at a later stage. If he does not satisfy the residency requirement, he will be informed in writing of the basis for that conclusion.

The average processing time for applications for naturalisation is 24 months at the present time. It is likely, therefore, that the application of the person concerned will be finalised around February 2008, on the understanding, of course, that he satisfies the residency requirement at the time he applied.

I will advise both the Deputy and the person concerned as soon as I have made a decision in the matter.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 457: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will provide a copy of the template used by An Garda Síochána for the report issued to assist in determining if an applicant for naturalisation can be considered to be of good character. [16417/06]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 458: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether no question or questions are asked regarding engaging in political activity while residing here in the Garda report used to assist in determining if an applicant for naturalisation can be considered to be of good character. [16418/06]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 459: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 173 of 23 March and 314 to 317 of 6 April, the reason he has not answered the questions relating to engaging in political activity here; and the bearing such activity would have in determining if a person is of good character when applying for naturalisation. [16419/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 457 to 459, inclusive, together.

In regard to applications for naturalisation the Gardaí are asked to respond positively or negatively in respect of the following three questions: (i) Has the person come to the adverse attention of the Gardaí since arriving in the State? (ii) Has the person got a criminal record in the State? (iii) Are there any legal proceedings pending against the applicant? If the answer is positive in respect of any of the three questions, the Gardaí are asked to provide details and those details will be considered when determining if the applicant can be considered to be of good character for the purposes of naturalisation. Furthermore, it may also be necessary to seek additional information from the Gardaí or indeed other sources, if the particular circumstances of a case require it. I am satisfied that this procedure will disclose any information which would have a bearing on deciding if an applicant can be considered to be of good character for the purposes of naturalisation. This procedure has operated satisfactorily for several years and I have no plans to change it.

Without more detailed information from the Deputy about the particular activities he has in mind, I cannot be more specific with my response.