Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 261: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of Libyans who hold Irish citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16540/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts, 1956 to 2004, the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform has primary responsibility for matters relating to the granting of Irish citizenship. Applications for citizenship through naturalisation, including marriage to an Irish citizen, are processed by that Department. My Department does not, therefore, retain statistics for the number of Libyan nationals who have obtained Irish citizenship through naturalisation. However, my Department is responsible for processing applications for Irish citizenship through Foreign Births Registration, i.e. citizenship by descent. A search of our Foreign Births Register indicates that three such applications in respect of Libyan nationals have been processed since 2003. It has not been possible in the time available to provide the Deputy with statistics prior to that date.