Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 291: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average waiting time to process EU Treaty Rights, applications for residence by non-EEA family members of EU or EEA citizens, EU Directive 2004/38/EC and SI 656/2006 refers; the number of applications awaiting a decision; the number received, approved and rejected in the past 12 months; the steps he is taking to speed up the processing time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28229/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that applications for residence in the State based on EU Treaty Rights are currently being processed within the six month statutory time frame allowed by Directive 2004/38/EC and S.I. 656/2006 as amended.

The EU Treaty Rights statistics requested by the Deputy in respect of the previous 12 months (July 2008 to June 2009) are set out in the table. The total approval figure is inclusive of 1395 applications which were reviewed under the provisions of Directive 2004/38/EC conducted as a result of the European Court of Justice ruling in "Metock" of 25 July 2008. The total refusal figure includes 529 applications also reviewed as a result of the European Court of Justice ruling.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 292: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average waiting time to process married to an Irish national applications from non EEA national spouses of Irish nationals for residence here on the sole basis of their marriage; the number of applications awaiting a decision; the number received, approved and rejected in the past 12 months; the steps he is taking to speed up the processing time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28230/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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While marriage to an Irish national by a non EU national does not grant any automatic right to reside in the State, if a non EU national spouse of an Irish national was already legally resident in the State prior to the marriage, then he or she can make a request to the local Registration Officer for a change of their immigration status to reflect their marriage to that Irish national.

If, however, the non EU national has no legal status or is an asylum seeker in the State at the time of the marriage, he or she may make an application to the Spouse of Irish National Unit, Immigration Services Section, Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service, 13/14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2 seeking permission to reside in the State on that basis. I am informed by the Immigration Services Section of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service that applications of this type are currently taking 6 - 7 months to process. The processing time for dealing with such applications can vary depending on the particular circumstances of each individual case and the nature of the investigation required. This processing time meets our current expectations and in fact in the High Court Case of K M & D G -v- The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (2007 No. 321 J.R.) Justice John Edwards held that a period of between 9 and 12 months was reasonable for the making of such decisions.

At the end of June 2009 there were 122 applications on hand. In all instances processing arrangements are kept under ongoing review and steps are taken to ensure that applications are dealt with as quickly as possible having regard to overall resources across the full range of services provided by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. The following table outlines the figures for the past 12 months in respect of applications processed by the Marriage to Irish National Unit.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 293: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average waiting time to process business permission applications from non EEA nationals for permission to reside in the State for the purposes of establishing and operating a commercial business; the number of applications awaiting a decision; the number received, approved and rejected in the past 12 months; the steps he is taking to speed up the processing time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28231/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Immigration Services Section of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service that applications for Business Permission are currently taking 5-6 weeks to process on receipt of fully completed applications.

In all instances, processing arrangements are kept under ongoing review and steps are taken to ensure that applications are dealt with as quickly as possible having regard to overall resources across the full range of services provided by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. At the end of June 2009 there were 10 applications on hand awaiting decision. The following table outlines the figures for the past 12 months in respect of applications processed by the Business Permission Unit.