Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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10. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her views on the possibility of including time accrued with student and graduate visas towards the five-year residency required to apply for citizenship; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51376/22]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I seek the Minister's views on the possibility of including time accrued on student and graduate visas in Ireland towards the five-year residency required to apply for citizenship.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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We welcome anyone who wants to come to Ireland to study, spend time, live here and pursue a course of study, whether part time or full time. When a non-EEA person comes to Ireland to undertake an English language course, or a course at level 6 or above on the national framework of qualifications, NFQ, a stamp 2 student permission will be granted. It was always envisaged that time spent in Ireland as a student would be relatively short and, therefore, not reckonable as residence under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. However, I can confirm that periods of residence that are spent on the third level graduate scheme stamp 1G are reckonable for residency purposes for naturalisation. When a non-EEA student has completed his or her studies in Ireland and gained an award at level 8 on the NFQ or above, that person may qualify for a stamp 1G for 12 months. Where an individual receives an award at level 9 NFQ, he or she may qualify for a stamp 1G for up to 24 months, subject to the overall limit of eight years on student conditions that applies.

Following the period on the stamp 1G, it is open to the graduate and any prospective employer to make an application to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an employment permit. If the application is successful, the individual can register on a stamp 1 immigration permission. Thereafter, it is open to any person who has been legally resident in Ireland for a minimum of 60 months, that is, five years, to make an application for long-term residency or naturalisation, subject to meeting the required criteria.

For permission to be renewed, students must prove that they are progressing in their course, for example, passing exams. For those here studying English, who are on courses at a certain level, this will not be applicable. However, where someone is a graduate, in this country for a longer term and progressing in his or her studies, that stay will and can be reckonable towards a longer term citizenship or naturalisation process.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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That is very helpful. I thank the Minister. Will she provide an update on approximately how long it is taking to process citizenship applications?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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We receive between 12,000 and 13,000 citizenship applications per year. We had challenges through the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically where the in-person citizenship ceremonies could not take place. To try to respond to that, we have made a number of different changes to the process itself to try to speed it up and make it easier for people to apply and go through the system. We have also started an online citizenship ceremony, which was a novel way to give people their citizenship. Thankfully, while Covid-19 is still here, although in a different form, we have been able to have in-person ceremonies again.

The overall timeframe for processing applications has fallen to just over 12 months. It was much longer previously. Some cases may take longer, depending on challenges that may arise, but the time is reducing even with 12,000 or 13,000 applications annually. We want processing times to be as short as possible.