Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 382: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications for Irish citizenship currently being processed; the length of time it is taking to process applications and reach a decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12278/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service is currently processing over 16,000 applications for naturalisation. One year ago there was a backlog of approximately 22,000 applications awaiting decision. Since then, as a result of the measures I initiated to deal with the backlog, over 16,000 applications were dealt with in 2011; more than double the number finalised in 2010. This year to date I have made determinations on over 3,000 applications. I expect that the current backlog of standard cases will be cleared over the coming months with the 6 month average processing time for standard applications being reached by June 2012.