Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 233: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the status of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35277/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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A valid 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. All valid applications are dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants. The average processing time from application to decision is now at 24 months. More complicated cases can at times take more than the current average, while an element of straight forward cases can be dealt with in less than that timescale.

Officials in the Citizenship Division inform me that further supporting documentation was requested from the person in question on 26 May, 2009. This letter was re-issued on 7 September, 2009 and to date we have not had a response from the applicant. On receipt of the requested documentation further processing of the application will continue. The length of time taken to process each application should not be classified as a delay, as the length of time taken for any application to be decided is purely a function of the time taken to carry out necessary checks. 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 it is not undervalued and is only given to persons who genuinely satisfy the necessary qualifying criteria.

I am also informed that there is a discrepancy between the address the Deputy has provided and the address that my Department holds on file, please note that it is the responsibility of the applicant to keep my Department informed of any change of address in writing.