Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding residency entitlement and/or eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 8; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13551/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned was granted temporary permission to remain in the State on 27 September, 2001 under the arrangements then in place for the non-EEA parents of Irish born citizen children. This permission was renewed on a regular basis and is currently valid until 7 January, 2015.

There is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's question.

Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. The conditions are that the applicant must:

- be of full age

- be of good character

- have had a period of one year's continuous residency in the State immediately before the date of application and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the State amounting to four years

- intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation

- have, before a judge of the District Court in open court, in a citizenship ceremony or in such manner as the Minister, for special reasons, allows -

(i) made a declaration, in the prescribed manner, of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State, and

(ii) undertaken to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values.

A foreign national who is married to, or is the Civil Partner of, an Irish citizen for at least three years may apply for naturalisation under section 15A of the Irish Naturalisation and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, where they have been continuously resident in the island of Ireland for the year immediately prior to the date of their application and for two out of the four years prior to that year. The marriage or civil partnership must be subsisting and recognised under Irish law. Section 15A provides that the Minister may waive certain conditions for naturalisation if satisfied that the applicant would suffer serious consequences in respect of his or her bodily integrity or liberty if not granted Irish citizenship.

Section 16 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, waive some or all of the statutory conditions in certain circumstances i.e. where an applicant is of Irish descent or of Irish associations; where an applicant is a person who is a refugee within the meaning of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees; or where an applicant is a Stateless person within the meaning of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless persons.

It is open to any individual to lodge an application for citizenship if and when they are in a position to meet the statutory requirements as prescribed in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 as amended.

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.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding residency/entitlement to naturalisation in the case of persons (details supplied) ion County Kildare; if update of Stamp 4 will issue in the interim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13552/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that applications for a certificate of naturalisation were received from the persons referred to by the Deputy in April 2012.

The applications are currently being processed with a view to establishing whether the applicants meet the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible.

As well as being a significant event in the life of its recipient, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation as provided for in law is also a major step for the State 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.

The first and second persons concerned were granted permission to remain in the State for an initial 2 year period on Stamp 4 conditions from 22 September, 2005 under the revised arrangements for the non-EEA national parents of children born in Ireland prior to January, 2005, commonly known as the IBC/05 Scheme. The grant of permission to remain was renewed regularly and is currently valid until 12 April, 2013.

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.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding determination of eligibility of residency/naturalisation arising from the Zambrano judgement in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow; if the case is likely to be impeded in any way in view of the fact that the child's passport is in their homeland and in respect of which application has been made but the applicants cannot travel there for obvious reasons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13553/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I refer the Deputy to my detailed Reply to his recent Parliamentary Question, No 190 of Thursday, 28th February, 2013, in this matter. The position in the State of the person concerned is as set out in that Reply which is copied beneath (in italics).

As stated in that Reply, all representations submitted by and on behalf of the person concerned will be considered before a final decision is made. In the event that documentary evidence is submitted which suggests that the terms of the Zambrano Judgment are applicable to the case of the person concerned then any such documentary evidence will be fully considered. The Deputy will appreciate that the Zambrano Judgment, in an Irish context, applies to certain third country national parents of an Irish born minor citizen child. As such, in the event that the person concerned is the parent of such a child, and that child is the holder of an Irish Passport, then it would be in his interests to have the child's Irish Passport, together with all the other relevant documentation, forwarded to my Department for consideration without delay.

Given that the person concerned has no current right of residency in the State, the issue of an application for naturalisation does not arise at this time.

The person concerned is a failed asylum applicant. Arising from the refusal of his asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 25th February, 2010, that the then Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of him. He was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against him. In addition, he was notified of his entitlement to apply for Subsidiary Protection in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006.

The person concerned submitted an application for Subsidiary Protection. When consideration of this application has been completed, the person concerned will be notified in writing of the outcome.

In the event that the application for Subsidiary Protection is refused, the position in the State of the person concerned will then be decided by reference to the provisions of Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. All representations submitted will be considered before a final decision is made. Once a decision has been made, this decision, and the consequences of the decision, will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.

The position in relation to the immigration status of Long Term Residency is that, at the date of application, a person applying for such status must have been legally resident in the State for over five years (60 months) on the basis of work permit, work authorisation or working visa conditions and, as such, must have Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 endorsements on their Passport during such periods. Given that the person concerned has no current right of residency in the State, he would not be in a position to meet the lawful residency criteria applicable to persons applying to my Department for Long Term Residency status.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.