Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his definition of a Stateless person; the extent to which this is in accord with International agreements and regulations; the number of such persons who have applied for naturalisation here in each of the past five years and to date in 2009; the number of such cases approved, rejected or pending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31236/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004 define a Stateless person as being 'within the meaning of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of the 28th day of September, 1954'. The definition of a 'Stateless Person' as outlined under this Convention is 'a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of it's law'. Every application for a certificate of naturalisation is dealt with on an individual basis, if the applicant claims to be stateless then the citizenship laws of the country of origin, country of birth and any other country that may be involved are examined to determine whether the applicant is entitled to citizenship. It is only after these checks are completed will a determination on the nationality of the applicant be made.

The number of applications in the last five years from persons who have presented as being Stateless is twenty three. Eleven of these applications are pending a decision, while three have been refused and four were ineligible. Five applications have been approved. Of these one had their status confirmed as Stateless, two were found to have nationality of another country and two are currently being examined to determine if they have an entitlement to nationality of another country.

In the overall context the proportion of applicants presenting as Stateless is very low at 1 in every 2,000 applications. Some people may consider themselves to be Stateless for example due to their ethnic origins but nonetheless have entitlement to nationality of their country of birth or nationality of another country through descent.