Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 296: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a non-Irish national who has been living here for 11 years and whose parent has a right of residency and has Irish born siblings is entitled to an Irish passport; the criteria used to assess such eligibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16613/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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In general, a person who is a national of another country has no entitlement to an Irish passport unless they apply for and are granted a certificate of Naturalisation following a period of reckonable residence in the State.

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. These conditions are that the applicant must be of full age; be of good character; 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; intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation; have made, either before a Judge of the District Court in open court or in such manner as the Minister for special reasons allows, a declaration in the prescribed manner, of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State.

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; periods granted for the purposes of seeking recognition as a refugee within the meaning of the Refugee Act, 1996. In the absence of further details relating to the specific case, the Deputy will appreciate that I am unable to provide a more detailed response.