Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application for naturalisation in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick. [14000/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Valid applications for a certificate of naturalisation from the persons referred to in the Deputy's Question were received in the Citizenship Division of my Department in January, 2008.

The applications are at an advanced stage of processing and will be finalised as expeditiously as possible.

As I outlined in response to Parliamentary Question Number 69 of 7 April last, I can inform the Deputy that I have initiated steps within my Department to provide for speedier processing of applications to bring about a substantial reduction in the processing timescale. The new arrangements will be publicly announced once my Department is in a position to implement them.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.

I should remind the Deputy that queries in relation to the status of individual Immigration cases may be made direct to INIS by email 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.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 112: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality regarding the criteria whereby a person who applies for naturalisation must prove that they can support themselves and their family living here and must demonstrate that they have not received State support in the three year period before their application, if receipt of a family income supplement payment will disqualify an employed person from making such an application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14055/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I will write to the Deputy shortly providing the information he has requested.