Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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243. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of citizenship applications by persons (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30511/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The application for a certificate of naturalisation from one of the persons referred to by the Deputy has been approved. The certificate fee and final documents have been requested by the Citizenship Division of the Immigration Service of my Department in correspondence dated 5 October 2020. The processing of the second application remains ongoing at this time.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.

It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. The nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the Immigration Service of my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.