Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 136: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application for naturalisation in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; if documentation supplied with the application highlighting the person's professional need for a change in their immigration status will affect the timeframe in which the application is processed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7812/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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A valid eligible 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 March 2011.

The application is being processed in the normal way with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision in due course. While the average time from application to decision is 25 months, processing requirements and time taken to carry out necessary checks vary from case to case. However, in response to Parliamentary Question Number 7104/11 of 7 April last, I outlined that I have initiated steps to provide for speedier processing of applications. That said, the Deputy will appreciate that the valid application in this case has only just been received.

The granting of a certificate of naturalisation is a privilege and an honour and never a right or an entitlement and all factors, including those referred to by the Deputy, will be taken into account in reaching a decision.

I should remind the Deputy that queries in relation to the status of individual Immigration cases may be made direct to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. The service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek this information through the more administratively expensive Parliamentary Questions process.