Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 1000: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding an application for citizenship in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31520/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister, in his absolute discretion, may grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are that the applicant must have had a period of one year's continuous residency in the State immediately before the date of application and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the State amounting to four years. In the context of naturalisation, certain periods of residence in the State are excluded. These include periods of residence in respect of which an applicant does not have permission to remain in the State, periods granted for the purposes of study and periods granted for the purposes of seeking recognition as a refugee within the meaning of the Refugee Act, 1996. An application from the person referred to in the Deputy's Question was received in the Citizenship Section of my Department in November 2007. On examination of the application it was determined that the person in question did not meet the above mentioned residency requirement. A letter informing her of this was issued on 16 April 2008. It is open to the person in question to lodge a new application if and when she is in a position to meet the statutory requirements applicable at that time.