Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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20. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the backlog in naturalisation applications in view of the fact that a person (details supplied) has been waiting since December 2010 and the only answer Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service will provide to enquiries is that this person will be contacted in due course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28273/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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When I came into office in March 2011 one of my immediate priorities was to address the large backlog of citizenship applications for naturalisation pending a decision that had built up over several years. At that time there were approximately 22,000 applications awaiting decision, many of which had been waiting for 3 years or longer.

Notwithstanding the significant increase in the volume of valid applications received from 12,500 in 2010 to just under 20,000 in 2012 – an increase of almost 60%, more than 55,000 decisions on naturalisation applications have been made since I came into office and 25,000 certificates for naturalisation were issued last year alone. It is my intention that we continue to build on this success this year and, in this regard, over 15,000 valid applications have been decided to date in 2013.

I am advised by the Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy in December 2010.

The application is at an advanced stage of processing and I am advised will be submitted to me for decision shortly. While good progress continues to be made in reducing the large volume of cases on hands, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that for a broad range of reasons some cases will take longer than others to process. 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.

It is my objective that the vast majority of applications be determined within 6 months of receipt. Achieving this can also be delayed by applicants failing to furnish necessary documents or the need to seek additional information on foot of an application received.