Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the re-opened application for naturalisation in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Waterford will be dealt with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24555/10]

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 October 2007. Officials in the Citizenship Division inform me that further processing of the application is ongoing and the file will be submitted to me for a decision in the near future.

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.