Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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424. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of foreign nationals who have successfully applied for Irish citizenship in each of the past ten years. [52448/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 and assessed individually in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Applicants are required to have 5 years reckonable residence in the State prior to making an application, except for spouses of Irish nationals and people granted International Protection where the requirement is 3 years. In all cases, the final 12 months must be continuous residence in the State.

It is open to anyone to make an application for citizenship once they meet the criteria as set out in the 1956 Act, as amended. Once an application is received, a determination on whether the applicant satisfies the statutory criteria for naturalisation will be made.

I can advise the Deputy, that in October 2023 my Department moved from paper based applications to online forms for all new adult applications and this should help in reducing the median processing time for applications.

Detailed information on how to apply for naturalisation is available on my Department's Irish Immigration website at: www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/

The table below details the number of Certificates of Naturalisation issued for each of the years 2013 to date, as requested by the Deputy. The number naturalised in any given year may includes persons approved for naturalisation in a previous year. The Citizenship Division issues invitations to ceremonies to successful applicants at the earliest possible opportunity.

Over 17,000 applicants have received a decision in relation to their application for naturalisation to date in 2023. So far this year there have been 9 Citizenship Ceremonies. These have taken place in the RDS, Dublin in March, in the INEC, Killarney in June and the Convention Centre in Dublin in October. A further 7 ceremonies will be held over two days in the Convention Centre Dublin next month and invitations to applicants will issue shortly.