Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the average length of time a person applying for naturalisation must wait to receive notice of their application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11956/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Upon receipt of an application for a certificate of naturalisation initial checks are conducted to ensure that it is valid and eligible. Applicants are currently being issued notification of their application status and application number within on average 5 working days, although this can be exceed for short periods from time to time when significant volumes of applications are received.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time a person who applied for naturalisation in July 2011 will be obliged to wait to discover if their application has been successful or not; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11957/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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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. However, I can say that I expect to make decisions on a large volume of 2011 applications in the coming months. 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.