Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 314: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the waiting times for naturalisation applications; the efforts being made or resources deployed to reduce the waiting times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27995/08]

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.

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 procedures involved in the processing of applications have been developed and refined over a number of years and 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 timescales.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 315: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when an application for citizenship by a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath will be processed; if he will confirm having received correspondence from them dated 23 May 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28001/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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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 earlier this year.

Officials in that Section are currently processing applications received in early 2006 and have approximately 16,700 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.

I am advised that officials in Citizenship Section received the correspondence of 23 May 2008 referred to by the Deputy. A response to same has issued to the individual.