DRIVING licence penalty points count against applicants for citizenship, it has emerged.During investigations into whether citizenship applicants are of “good character”, a Department of Justice spokesperson has confirmed that criminal and “other offences” are taken into account.
No barometer was provided as to how many penalty points could ‘count against’ a person.
“Criminal or other offences are taken into account as part of that [application] assessment in order for the minister to be satisfied that the applicant is of good character,” explained the spokesperson.
“Enquiries are made with An Garda Síochána to check if the person has come to the adverse attention of the gardaí since arriving in the State. The minister then makes a decision in his absolute discretion based on all the information presented to him.”
Penalty points are accorded for driving offences such as speeding, failure to wear a seatbelt, improper motor insurance and careless driving – and take three years to expire.
Points are recorded on a person’s driving licence if they are convicted of an offence that attracts penalty points, or are served with a fixed fine notice for an alleged offence that attracts penalty points but for which the driver opts to pay a fine rather than go to court.
Asked for the most common reasons for failed citizenship applications, a Department of Justice spokesperson said “large numbers” are “initially rejected as invalid” due to issues relating to errors in the application form, or applicants not having fulfilled the required lawful residency period.
The percentage of valid applications refused citizenship in 2008 was nine per cent, added the spokesperson, citing the main reasons for refusal as “failure to meet good character requirements and/or a failure to be self-supporting”.
But the Immigrant Council of Ireland has been drawing attention to what it believes is a lack of transparency in the citizenship decision process.
According to the organisation, one of its clients was refused citizenship “on the grounds that a traffic offence eight years ago, for which he was fined €100 and had his licence endorsed with two points, was sufficient grounds for refusal.”
Another client, a single mother of a young child, had her application refused because she accessed social welfare.
“She was unemployed for six months in 2004 and, as she works part-time, is in receipt of family income supplement,” according to the ICI, which has also criticised the lack of an appeal mechanism for rejected applicants.
“At the moment, a migrant may meet all the criteria for applying but still be refused citizenship as it is granted at the absolute discretion of the minister,” the organisation points out. “In other countries, migrants are entitled to citizenship if they fulfil the relevant criteria.”
Currently some 18,000 citizenship applications are pending at the Department of Justice, with an average processing time of two years.
