Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the full extent of residency here in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25481/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that applicants for naturalisation, other than spouses of Irish citizens, must have been resident in the State for five years of the nine year period prior to the date of application. Residence in this context means residence for which the applicant had the permission of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and where such permission was not for the purpose of study or seeking asylum. Generally speaking, reckonable residence is calculated from stamps in applicants' passports and from Departmental and Garda records.

The person in question arrived in the State in June 1998 and applied for asylum. His application was refused in November 1998 and an appeal against this decision was refused in March 1999. He subsequently applied for permission to remain in the State on foot of his marriage to a refugee and this was granted in April 2002.

My Department's records indicate that the person in question had permission to remain in the State continuously between April 2002 and November 2005. He has also been granted permission to remain from June 2006 to May 2007. There is no record that he obtained permission to remain for the period December 2005 to May 2006 and, consequently, this period is not reckonable for naturalisation.

According to my officials calculations, the earliest that the person in question will meet the above mentioned residency requirement is September 2007, provided, of course, he maintains his permission between now and then without any gaps.