Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action an Australian citizen who is here for the past two years on a working holiday visa and who wants to apply for a permanent residency visa, must take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3772/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service that there is no provision for permanent residency in Irish Immigration legislation for non EEA nationals.

The Working Holiday Authorisation which is issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs is available to young people from Australia who wish to stay in Ireland for an extended holiday and who are afforded the opportunity to work casually in order to fund their stay. It is granted for a duration of one year and is non-renewable.

Legal residency in this State is granted for a number of reasons including working permit conditions, marriage to Irish national or EU national and naturalisation. It is open to a non-EEA national who has resided legally in the State to apply for long term residency. These applications are considered in respect of persons who have resided legally in the State for a period of 60 months or longer on the basis of Work Permit, Work Authorisation, or Working Visa conditions.

Applicants for Naturalisation must have 60 months reckonable legal residency in the State prior to their application, with one year's continuous reckonable residency immediately prior to their application.

Non-EEA nationals who intend to reside in the State longer than three months are required to register with the Garda Registration Office for the area in which they intend to reside. The onus is on each individual to ensure that their permission to remain in the State is up to date at all times.