Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason it takes two and a half years, on average, to process an application for naturalisation; and if will introduce an improved system in view of the fact that there are currently 20,000 such applications on the waiting list. [26971/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The existing processing time for applications for certificates of naturalisation is approximately thirty months and this is primarily due to the significant increase in the volume of applications received in the last number of years. In 2002 there were 3,500 applications for certificates of naturalisation whereas in 2007, the number of such applications exceeded 8,000, representing a very significant increase. This upward trend seems set to continue and it is anticipated that applications for naturalisation will increase to 10,000 in the present year.

I think it would be useful for me to set out for the Deputy the procedures employed to assess applications for naturalisation. Upon receipt, an initial examination of each application is carried out to determine if the statutory application is completed fully. Incomplete application forms are returned to the applicant for amendment. Valid applications are then examined to determine if the applicant meets the statutory residency criteria set out in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act. Passports and other documentation are examined in detail and enquiries with the Garda National Immigration Bureau may also be necessary. Since this procedure was introduced on 1 April 2005, over 3,500 applicants who applied since that date have been found to be ineligible. All such applicants are informed of any shortfall in their residency, within a matter of weeks from the date the application is received, and will be able to reapply when they have the required residency.

Further processing takes place at a later stage and involves assessing an applicant's financial status in respect of their ability to support themselves in the State. Enquiries with the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social and Family Affairs may be necessary in this regard. At the same time enquiries are also made with the Garda Síochána to clarify if the applicant can be deemed to be of good character. Depending on the complexity of any given case, these processes can take a lengthy time to complete. Once all enquiries are completed, the file is referred to me for a decision.

The Deputy will appreciate that the granting of Irish Citizenship through naturalisation is an honour and applications must be processed in a way which preserves the necessary checks and balances to ensure that it is not undervalued and is given only to persons who satisfy the necessary qualifying criteria. The procedures involved in the processing of applications have been developed and refined over a number of years and I am satisfied that they are necessary to maintain the integrity of the naturalisation process. Consequently, there is a limit to the reduction in the processing time that can be achieved.

The recent decentralisation of the Citizenship Section to Tipperary Town has resulted in a substantial redeployment in the staffing resources available to the section. This is expected to have a positive impact on the number of naturalisation applications on hand and will in time see a significant reduction in processing time scales.