Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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363. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 363 of 3 February 2015, the specific grounds on which application for naturalisation was refused in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 14; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5972/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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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 the applicant has been continuously resident in the island of Ireland for the year immediately prior to the date of his or her application and has in addition been resident in the island of Ireland 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.

An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in the Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) on 19 November, 2014. On examination of the application submitted it was determined that the person in question did not have total residence in the island of Ireland of three years in the five years immediately prior to the date of application and therefore did not satisfy the statutory residency requirements as set out in the Act and referred to above. The person concerned was informed of this by letter on 20 January, 2015.

It is open to the individual referred to by the Deputy to lodge a further application for citizenship if and when he is in a position to meet the prescribed statutory requirements. The on-line Naturalisation Residency Calculator available on the INIS website at www.inis.gov.iecan be used as a guide to whether an individual satisfies the naturalisation residency conditions and, if not, give an indication of how long they should wait before making an application.

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.