Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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188. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the current residency status in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Waterford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5393/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the persons concerned comprise a family of four, made up of two parents and their two minor children. The cases of the mother and one of the children are at the Section 3/Leave to Remain stage, the case file of the father will also be at that stage in the near future, once a 'three options letter' has been issued to him, while the case file of the remaining child rests with the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

As the Deputy may be aware, it is the practice of the INIS, insofar as it is possible to do so, to seek to have the cases of all members of a family unit processed to completion at the same time. This principle will be applied in the context of the cases of the persons concerned also. The Deputy will appreciate that the cases of the persons concerned cannot be processed to completion at this point in time given that one member of the family has an outstanding asylum/protection issue to be determined.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS of my Department 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.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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189. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the residency status in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5394/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation has been received from the person referred to by the Deputy, who currently has permission to reside in the State until 31 December, 2015.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour 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. Certain information was requested from the applicant and a response has been received. The application will be finalised and submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible.

The Deputy may wish to note that 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 established specifically 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.