Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 314: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on correspondence in respect of a person (details supplied) regarding an application for naturalisation; his further views on the fact that information relied upon in making a decision to decline naturalisation was inaccurate; if in view of the submission made he will accept that the applicant is of good character; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25052/09]

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 March 2008. This application was considered under the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended, and I decided not to grant a certificate of naturalisation. A copy of the submission on the matter, with my decision annotated thereon, was sent to the person in question on 2 June, 2009. In reaching this decision, I exercised my absolute discretion, as provided by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended. There is no appeals process provided under this legislation. It is open to the person concerned to lodge a new application for a certificate of naturalisation with the Citizenship Division of my Department at any time. However, in doing so he should bear in mind all of the reasons for refusal of his previous application.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 315: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on providing a pathway to citizenship for people who are resident in Ireland by virtue of having an Irish-born child born prior to 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25207/09]

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. 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 a 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 light of the changes to the Constitution regarding citizenship by virtue of birth in Ireland (the twenty-seventh amendment of the Constitution), revised arrangements, known as the IBC/05 Scheme, for the non-EEA parents of children born prior to 1 January, 2005, were put in place. Under the IBC/05 Scheme some 16,693 parents of Irish citizen children were granted permission to remain in the State under Stamp 4 conditions.

Persons granted permission to remain under Stamp 4 conditions are entitled to work without the need for a work permit and to set up a business without seeking the permission of the Minister. Furthermore, the permission granted counts as "reckonable residency" for the purposes of citizenship. Therefore, while there is no separate procedure for the parents of Irish citizen children such persons, having met the required period of residence in the State, may apply for citizenship if they so wish. Such applications are dealt with in the same manner and under the same procedures and provisions as all other applications for citizenship.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 316: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on streamlining applications for naturalisation to prioritising those that are almost certain to be approved, such as applications from the spouses or Irish citizens and applications for foreign nationals working as doctors in public hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25208/09]

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. Applications for naturalisation are generally dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants. Applications from foreign nationals working as doctors in public hospitals are correctly given the same priority as other applications. Lodging an application for a certificate of naturalisation should not give any applicant a legitimate expectation that the application will be successful.

Following the decentralisation of the Citizenship Division to Tipperary Town, substantially increased resources have been made available to it in order to reduce backlogs and provide a better quality service to all applicants. This has had a positive impact on processing times and has enabled certain categories of applicant to be dealt with more expeditiously. These include refugees, spouses of Irish citizens and minors. The Deputy will appreciate that a certificate of naturalisation is an exceptional and important document that facilitates a non-national becoming a citizen of Ireland. Therefore, 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 persons who genuinely satisfy the necessary qualifying criteria. The procedures involved have been developed and refined over a number of years and I am satisfied that they are necessary to maintain the integrity of the naturalisation process.