Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 456: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if the registration certificate fee payable under the Immigration Act 2004 can be waived or reduced when a person (details supplied) is in receipt of disability allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15809/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Immigration Act, 2004 (Registration Certificate Fee) Regulations 2008, S.I. 336 of 2008, sets out the fee payable for obtaining a certificate of registration under the Immigration Act, 2004 and the categories of persons for whom no fee is applicable. The current fee is €150. The Regulations provide that the following categories of persons are exempt from payment of the fee:

Persons in respect of whom a declaration of refugee status under section 17 of the Refugee Act 1996 is in force (Convention Refugees);

Persons who have been reunified with such refugees under section 18 of the Refugee Act 1996;

Programme refugees within the meaning of section 24 of the Refugee Act 1996;

Persons who are under 18 years of age at the time of registration;

Spouses of Irish citizens;

In addition, I am in the process of introducing a Statutory Instrument, to add, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, two further categories to the list of those persons who are exempt from paying the fee. These are certain persons comprehended by the Civil Partnership and Certain Obligations of Cohabitants Act, 2010 as well as persons granted temporary residence permission under the administrative arrangements for victims of trafficking. There are no plans at the present time to exempt other categories of persons from paying the fee for obtaining a certificate of registration.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 457: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when a decision will issue on an application for citizenship in respect of a person (details supplied); if the outstanding Garda report will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15820/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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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 May, 2008. The application is 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. These new arrangements will be publicly announced in the coming days.

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.