Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a naturalisation application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin who has requested three updates in the past couple of years and has been told every time that the process would take a few months; if he will examine this case and give a more detailed breakdown of the length of time this process will take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10503/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that valid application for certificates of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy in May, 2009.

The application is currently being processed 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 as expeditiously as possible. As the processing requirements and time taken to complete necessary checks vary from case to case, it is not possible to provide a specific date for determination of an individual application. I can inform the Deputy that good progress continues to be made in reducing the time taken to process the generality of applications.

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.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.