Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 1007: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the average turnaround time for naturalisation applications for nationals from Pakistan; the reason for the specific delay in these cases; the number of these cases currently being with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18741/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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There has been an enormous increase in the volume of applications for a certificate of naturalisation in recent years. In 2000 the number of applications made that year was just over 1,000 whereas last year the number was 25,671 - an increase of almost 2,500%. Quite clearly, this dramatic increase in volume has impacted on the capacity of the administrative system to process them and has given rise to a large volume of cases on hand. This gave rise to a situation where most cases were taking well over two years to complete.

When I came into Office just over a year ago there were about 22,000 cases on hands. I undertook to address this issue and committed to get to the stage that by the second quarter of this year the average processing time for standard cases would take six months. In this regard, a major effort has and continues to be made in reducing the time taken to process the generality of applications. In 2011 over 16,000 applications were dealt with. I expect to have made a decision on 12,000 applications by the end of May this year and a further 12,000 by year end. By contrast, in 2010, a decision was reached in just over 5,600 cases.

The primary aim over the past year has been to reduce the large volume of cases on hand as swiftly as possible and this has been achieved in the majority of cases.

By way of general comment, it is a statutory requirement that, inter alia, applicants for naturalisation be of good character. In some instances that can be established relatively quickly and in other cases completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time. Quite clearly in those circumstances it is not possible to provide a specific date for the determination of an individual application. I can, however, inform the Deputy that steps are being taken to process all outstanding applications including those referred to by the Deputy and to have made significant inroads into them by the end of this year.