Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1149: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will grant long-term residency and naturalisation to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1161/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The position in relation to granting long term residency is as follows: Persons who have been legally resident in the State for over five years on the basis of work permit/work authorisation/work visa conditions may apply to the Immigration Division of my Department for a five year residency extension. In that context they may also apply to be exempt from employment permit requirements.

The dependants of the aforementioned, who have been legally resident in the State for over five years may also apply for long term residency. This particular long term permission does not grant an exemption from employment permit requirements to any such dependants. Time spent in the State on student conditions cannot be counted towards long term residency. While applications for long term residency are under consideration, the person concerned should ensure that their permission to remain in the State is kept up to date.

An application for long term residency from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in June 2007. I understand that applications received in July 2006 are currently being dealt with. As soon as a decision is made on the case, the person concerned will be notified. An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's question was received in the Citizenship section of my Department in August 2007.

Officials in that section are currently processing applications received in the middle of 2005 and have approximately 14,000 applications on hand to be dealt with before that of the person concerned. These are generally dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants. It is likely, therefore, that further processing of the application will commence in early 2010. I will inform the Deputy and the person in question when I have reached a decision on the application.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1150: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will grant long-term residency and naturalisation to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1162/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The position in relation to granting long term residency is as follows: Persons who have been legally resident in the State for over five years on the basis of work permit/work authorisation/work visa conditions may apply to the Immigration Division of my Department for a five year residency extension. In that context they may also apply to be exempt from employment permit requirements.

The dependants of the aforementioned, who have been legally resident in the State for over five years may also apply for long term residency. This particular long term permission does not grant an exemption from employment permit requirements to any such dependants. Time spent in the State on student conditions cannot be counted towards long term residency. While applications for long term residency are under consideration, the person concerned should ensure that their permission to remain in the State is kept up to date.

An application for long term residency from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in April 2007. I understand that applications received in July 2006 are currently being dealt with. As soon as a decision is made on the case, the person concerned will be notified. An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's question was received in the Citizenship section of my Department in July 2007. Officials in that section are currently processing applications received in the middle of 2005 and have approximately 13,800 applications on hand to be dealt with before that of the person concerned. These are generally dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants. It is likely, therefore, that further processing of the application will commence in early 2010. I will inform the Deputy and the person in question when I have reached a decision on the application.