Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 263: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if applications for naturalisation are being unnecessarily delayed due to backlogs at the Garda Síochána; the average length of time it takes for a report on the applicant to be received once it has been requested from the Garda Síochána; the measures he will introduce to deal with these delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3074/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. One such condition is that the applicant must be of good character. This is established mainly by carrying out enquiries with An Garda Síochána and is an important stage in the processing of all applications for naturalisation.

At present, 70% of all enquiries are receiving a response within 5 weeks, however, at certain peak periods each year this response time may not be possible. In very complex cases this process can take a lengthy time to complete and in a minority of cases this may take more than a year. This does not constitute an unnecessary delay in these complicated cases.

Officials from the Citizenship Division and An Garda Síochána are working together to ensure that any delays are minimised. However, there is a limit to the reduction in the processing time that can be achieved as applications for naturalisation must be processed in a way which preserves the necessary checks and balances to ensure that it is not undervalued and is only given to persons who genuinely satisfy the necessary qualifying criteria.