Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 272: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the efforts he is making to work with his counterparts in the Assembly and in Westminster to ensure that those seeking to obtain Irish citizenship who reside in the northern Six Counties are able to do so, thus ensuring that all those who live within the island of Ireland have equality of access to Irish citizenship. [12496/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Any person living on the island of Ireland, one of whose parents or grandparents was an Irish citizen is entitled to Irish citizenship by descent and may make an application for a passport directly to the passport office. Similarly, any person born on the island of Ireland prior to 1st January 2005 has an entitlement to Irish citizenship and may also make an application for a passport directly to the passport office.

Post 1st January 2005, the entitlement to Irish citizenship of persons born on the island of Ireland to non-national parents is governed by sections 6A and 6B of the Irish Nationality & Citizenship Act, 1956 as amended. The Act states that a person born in the island of Ireland shall not be entitled to be an Irish citizen unless a parent of that person has, during the period of 4 years immediately preceding the person's birth, been resident in the island of Ireland for a period of not less than 3 years or periods the aggregate of which is not less than 3 years.

Irish citizenship may also be pursued through naturalisation, the granting of which is a privilege and an honour, not an entitlement. Residence for the purposes of satisfying the statutory conditions for naturalisation under section 15(1) of the 1956 Act as amended require residence to be in the State. There are no plans at present to extend the residence conditions as set out in section 15(1).