Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Page 76 of the programme for Government recognises a range of needs of the new Irish, yet at the same time there are ongoing difficulties and delays in processing naturalisation applications. Some of the applications that we have been dealing with are extending into their third year at this stage. Through that time, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, is holding original documentation. It becomes very difficult for applicants to do ordinary things when they need that documentation, such as opening a bank account, applying for loans, getting a Covid vaccination or a driver's licence. It is possible to get the originals back but it was more restrictive with the Covid restrictions. People do not want to do anything that could impede their application. Students who are in secondary school want to have their applications processed before they start-----

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