Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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129. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedure to be followed by a person (details supplied) in County Cork in applying for citizenship, which person has lived and worked here for ten years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39838/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy. The person currently has permission to reside in the State until 4 March 2016.

Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister may, in her absolute discretion, grant a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. One such condition is that the applicant is required to 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 further total residence in the State amounting to four years. Periods for which an individual did not have the permission of the Minister for Justice and Equality to reside in the State, or periods of residence which were for the sole purpose of having an application for refugee status determined, or periods of residence where permission was granted for the purposes of study are are not reckonable for the purposes of satisfying the residency conditions for naturalisation. 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. Detailed information on Irish citizenship and naturalisation is available on the INIS website at www.inis.gov.ie. The website also contains an on-line naturalisation residency calculator which individuals may find of assistance in establishing if they meet the residency requirements.

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.