Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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158. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date in the determination of an application for citizenship in the case of a person (details supplied); when correspondence will be issued to confirm receipt of the application; when the active passports will be returned to the applicant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37284/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Citizenship Division of the Immigration Service of my Department is working very hard to maintain as prompt a service as possible during the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Unfortunately, as a result of these restrictions, significant delays are occurring in the issuing of acknowledgment receipts and the processing and return of documentation. 

If the person concerned sends their An Post tracking number that they received when posting their application to citizenshipinfo@justice.ie, the Citizenship Division will check the record and confirm if the application has been received.

The ability of staff to attend at the office continues to be impacted and the verification of passports cannot be performed remotely for data protection reasons. However, if the person concerned urgently requires their passport for emergency reasons such as medical reasons, they should email the Citizenship Division setting out the reasons and provide colour scanned copies of supporting documentation such as a letter from their medical consultant.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to 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.