Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 389: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will be approved for naturalisation. [17952/06]

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 18 March 2004. This application was examined recently by my officials.

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. One of these conditions is that 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.

In the context of determining if an applicant meets the residence requirement for naturalisation, certain periods of residence in the State must be 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.

It appears that the person in question does not meet the statutory residency criteria. Although she indicated in her application that she arrived in the State in 1993, the documentation supporting her application indicates that she first obtained permission to remain in the State in May 2000 and that this permission expired in May 2003. It also appears that she has not renewed her permission to remain since that time. If she renews her permission during the course of this month or the next, and maintains that permission without gaps, she will meet the statutory residency requirement for naturalisation in May 2008. A letter setting out the situation will issue to the individual in question very shortly.