Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application for citizenship in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16871/11]

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 November 2008.

The application from the second named person is at the final stage of processing. Officials in the Citizenship Division inform me that a letter requesting further documentation was issued to the applicant on 14 June 2011.

The application from the first named person is at an advanced stage of processing and will be finalised as expeditiously as possible.

In that context, I can inform the Deputy that, I have announced steps within my Department to provide for speedier processing of applications to bring about a substantial reduction in the processing timescale. The new arrangements include improved application forms that are coming into force this Friday, 24th June 2011, and are currently available online with an associated online residence checker, streamlined and accelerated procedures for certain types of application and plans to recruit interns under the new Internship Programme. Further details can be obtained from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration website www.inis.gov.ie.

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.