Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 324: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when, in view of the fact that the information referred to in Parliamentary Question No. 94 of 9 April 2009 was supplied some time ago, a decision will be made in this case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27161/09]

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 August 2007. The average processing time from application to decision is now at 23 months. Officials in that Section inform me that the documentation requested from the person concerned has been received and further processing of the application has resumed.

More complicated cases can at times take more than the current average while an element of straight forward cases are now being dealt with in less than that time scale. 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.