Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 431: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a work permit and citizenship in respect of a case (details supplied). [13673/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of any detail on the current immigration status of the person concerned including the type of visa he possessed to enter the State, I can only answer in general terms. I would point out that information is available on www.inis.ie and www.djei.ie in relation to immigration and employment permit requirements respectively.

In order to take up employment in the State a Bangladeshi national is required to be in possession of a valid work permit (issued by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation) and a valid visa. These documents should in the normal course be acquired in advance of travel to the State. The person must also register and seek permission to remain in the State on the basis of their work permit by presenting themselves to their local Registration Officer.

A person who wishes to apply for Irish citizenship must satisfy the following conditions:-

Must be of full age (i.e. eighteen years or older, or married if younger than eighteen.

Must be of good character

Must have a period of one year's continuous reckonable residence in the State immediately before the date of the application and, during the eight years preceding that, have had a total reckonable residence in the State amounting to four years. Note: time spent as a student in the State does not count towards reckonable residence.

I would advise the Deputy that a specific case query 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.