Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 120: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the waiting times for certificate of naturalisation applications; the number of people awaiting a decision under this process; the number of staff dealing with the application process; his plans to review this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22183/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am advised by the Citizenship Section of my Department that the number of applications for naturalisation which have yet to be processed to a conclusion is approximately 17,000. The processing time is, on average, 30 months and this is primarily due to the significant increase in the volume of applications received in the last number of years. The table below shows the total number of applications received in the years 2000 to date. These figures illustrate a significant upward trend and with almost 6,000 applications received to date in 2007, this upward trend looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.

There are 46 staff currently assigned to the Citizenship Section of my Department of whom 31 work full time while the remainder work various work sharing patterns. The numbers of staff assigned to the Section are kept regular review having regard to the overall workload of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service.