Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 333: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position in regard to the application for citizenship in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cavan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17498/09]

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 Division of my Department in July 2006. Officials in that section inform me that the application is at an advanced stage of processing and that the file will be submitted to me for a decision in due course. The average processing time from application to decision is now 23 months. More complicated cases can take longer than the current average, while some straightforward cases are being dealt with in less than that amount of time. 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 the status of citizenship is not undervalued and is only given to people who genuinely satisfy the necessary qualifying criteria.