Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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382. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current residency status in the case of a person (details supplied); the appropriate procedure for them to follow to apply for citizenship; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5769/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The person referred to by the Deputy holds a Stamp 4 immigration permission, which has been extended until 31 May 2022, in line with the automatic extension of immigration permissions I announced on 17 December 2021. All permissions are extended on the same terms and conditions to the permission already held.

It is open to the person concerned to contact their local Immigration Office before 31 May 2022 to apply for a further renewal of their immigration permission. I strongly recommend that they make efforts to renew their permission as early as possible rather than waiting until May when demand for appointments will be significantly greater. If resident in the Dublin area, they can apply online at inisonline.jahs.ie/user/login to renew their permission.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is governed by the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. All applications for a certificate of naturalisation are processed in line with the eligibility criteria set out in that Act. Each application is assessed individually and a determination on whether an applicant satisfies the statutory criteria attendant to naturalisation can only be made after an application is received.

Applicants are required to have five years reckonable residence in the State prior to making an application, except for spouses of Irish nationals where the requirement is three years. In both cases, the final 12 months must be continuous residence in the State with up to six weeks allowed to facilitate foreign travel for business family or holiday purposes.

Detailed information on Irish citizenship and the naturalisation process, along with the relevant application forms and guidance notes, is available on my Department's Irish Immigration website at: www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, 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 Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.