Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the person who sets the nationality requirements of the higher education grants scheme; if they are set here or by the EU; the reason those who have refugee status qualify but those given permission to stay due to the fact they had an Irish born child and may have got refugee status are denied the rights of the scheme for themselves and their children; if an application for naturalisation will be fast-tracked to allow an 18 year old to get their entitlement for a college (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13495/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The eligibility criteria for higher education grants does not fall within the remit of my Department. Matters relating to the higher education grants scheme are the responsibility of the Minister for Education and Science.

In the absence of more detailed information relating to a specific case, the Deputy will appreciate that I am unable to provide a definitive response. However, I can advise of the position generally.

Applications for a certificate of naturalisation are dealt with in chronological order as this is deemed to be the fairest to all applicants. Additional resources were allocated to the Citizenship Division of my Department to enable certain categories of applicant to be dealt with more expeditiously. These include refugees, spouses of Irish citizens and minors.

The average processing time from application to decision is 26 months. More complicated cases can at times take more than the current average while an element of straightforward 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 Irish citizenship which is an honour and a privilege is not undervalued or debased and is only given to persons who genuinely satisfy the necessary qualifying criteria.