Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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321. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will review and facilitate an application for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2238/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Officials in the Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service inform me that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's question.

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. Persons making an application for a certificate of naturalisation are required to provide evidence of their identity by providing their passport and birth certificate, so that the State can have equivalent proofs of the identity of naturalised citizens as all other citizens. In rare circumstances where an applicant cannot obtain their passport and birth certificate, or other supporting documents, for reasons genuinely beyond their control, then the applicant will be required to provide an explanation and submit evidence, such as correspondence from the relevant authorities responsible for the issuing of passports and birth certificates in their country, stating why they are not obtainable. The Citizenship Division will assess those reasons and if satisfied that they provide a genuine impediment, alternative means of validating the true identity of the person will be put in place.

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.