Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 133: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding residency and naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24361/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Questions No. 174 of Tuesday, 7 April 2009, No.126 of Thursday, 12 February 2009, and No. 832 of Thursday, 10 July 2008 and the written Replies to those Questions. The person concerned applied for asylum on 22 January 2003. His application was refused following consideration of his case by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

Subsequently, in accordance with Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was informed, by letter dated 9 December 2004, that the Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of him. He was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why he should be allowed to remain temporarily in the State. Representations have been submitted on behalf of the person concerned and these representations will be fully considered, under Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement, before the file is passed to me for decision.

The wife of the person concerned applied for asylum on 20 May 2005. Her application was refused following consideration of her case by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Subsequently, in accordance with Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the wife of the person concerned was informed, by letter dated 26 April 2006, that the Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of her. She was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why she should be allowed to remain temporarily in the State. Representations were submitted by the wife of the person concerned at that time.

The wife of the person concerned has also submitted an application for Subsidiary Protection in the State in accordance with the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 518 of 2006) and this application is under consideration at present. When consideration of this application has been completed, the wife of the person concerned will be notified in writing of the outcome.

In the event that the Subsidiary Protection application is refused, the case file of the wife of the person concerned, including all representations submitted, will then be considered under Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. When this latter consideration has been completed, the case file of the wife of the person concerned will be passed to me for decision.

The child of the person concerned, born in the State on 21 October 2006, will be included in her parent's application for leave to remain in the State, in accordance with the instructions of their legal representative.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding residency and naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24362/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned applied for asylum on 2 October 2001. His application was refused following consideration of his case by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and, on appeal, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

Subsequently, in accordance with Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was informed, by letter dated 15 October 2002, that the Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of him. He was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why he should be allowed to remain temporarily in the State. Representations were received from the person concerned.

On 2 November 2006 the person concerned submitted an application for Subsidiary Protection in the State in accordance with the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 518 of 2006) and this application is under consideration at present. When consideration of this application has been completed, the person concerned will be notified in writing of the outcome.

In the event that the Subsidiary Protection application is refused, the case file of the person concerned, including all representations submitted, will then be considered under Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. When this latter consideration has been completed, the case file of the person concerned will be passed to me for decision.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 135: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding residency and naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 6; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24363/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 271 of 31 March 2009. The residency status of the person in question remains unchanged as the Deportation Order made remains in force. Officials in the Citizenship Division of my Department inform me that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's Question.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 136: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare can return to their homeland for family reasons without damage to their eligibility for citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24364/09]

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 of these conditions is that the applicant must have had a period of one year's continuous residence 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.

Applicants for a certificate of naturalisation are required to provide evidence that they have been resident and that they have had the permission of the Minister to remain in the State for the prescribed period. Permission to remain in the State as confirmed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau is a matter of vital importance to all applicants for Citizenship. Applicants must ensure that their registration with the Garda National Immigration Bureau is kept up to date during their residency in this country.

While it may not be deemed prejudicial to an application for naturalisation should an applicant wish to leave the State for short periods, each case is considered individually. In circumstances where the person in question wishes to leave the State while his-her application is being processed, he-she should notify the citizenship section of the dates of travel and the reasons for same. The legal provisions governing naturalisation require that a naturalised person continue to reside in the State after naturalisation, and any long-term absences will be assessed in that light. Officials in the Citizenship Division of my Department inform me that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's Question.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding an application for family reunification in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24365/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to my answers to his previous Parliamentary Questions. I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that the person in question made a Family Reunification application in January 2006 and a decision was issued to the person in question on 9 July 2008. However, the letter containing that decision was subsequently returned undelivered to my Department. The decision letter was reissued on 11 March 2009 to the new address which the Deputy provided for the person in question. I am further informed that the Deputy was advised in my previous reply that if the person in question wishes to submit additional information to support his application for family reunification he can do so and this will be taken into consideration in reaching a decision.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding an application for citizenship and residency in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24366/09]

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 April 2008. On examination of the application submitted it was determined that the application form had not been fully completed. It was returned to the person in question for further attention on 18 April, 2008. The person in question returned the application form to the Citizenship Division but the application form was returned again to the applicant on 1 July, 2008 as the application form was still incomplete. The Citizenship Division of my Department wrote to the person in question on 16 October, 2008 requesting she return her completed application form and supporting documentation in order for her application to be processed further. A 21 day letter was issued on 22 January, 2009. To date the Citizenship Division of my Department have not received the requested documentation and the application has been deemed ineligible.

It is open to the person in question to lodge a new application for a certificate of naturalisation if and when she is in a position to meet the statutory requirements. Officials in the General Immigration Division of my Department inform me that Temporary permission to remain in the State was granted to the person concerned on 14 August, 2007 until 14 August, 2010.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 139: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if residency and citizenship status will be renewed in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cavan who has been in employment here on foot of work permits since 2001 and whose employer is anxious that they continue in their present employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24367/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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An application for long-term residency by the person referred to by the Deputy was made on 14 April 2008. Officials in the Long-Term Residency Section of my Department have advised me that applications from September 2007 are currently being dealt with. As soon as a decision is made on the case, the person concerned will be notified. Officials in the Citizenship section of my Department inform me that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person concerned.