John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome again that FBR has reopened. Along with others, I have repeatedly asked for the process to reopen given the frustration experienced by many people who want to become Irish citizens.

It is their right to do that given they meet the correct criteria. There is massive frustration. Prior to the lockdown the waiting time was approximately 18 months. The Minister has not outlined how exactly he is going to deal with that. We are now being told it could take up to two years to process those applications. There are 30,000 of them within the system. Many of the people who put in their applications prior to the service being curtailed have not had any correspondence or communication from the office. Must they wait another two years on top of the two years that have been lost? The Minister might outline how exactly that is going to be dealt with.

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