Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the measures he will implement to reduce delays in the registration of foreign births; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34240/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 275 together.

My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register. At present, there are nearly 31,000 applications in the Foreign Births Registration (FBR) system that await processing.Prior to COVID-19 it took twelve to eighteen months to process applications. This was due to the complex nature of FBR applications and the very high volume of applications due to Brexit.

The Department is committed to allocating further resources to this service to assist with the high volume of applications when regular processing resumes with a focus on reducing turnaround times to pre Covid-19 levels by the end of 2021.

The Department of Foreign Affairs operates a clear and transparent general policy with regard to the processing of Foreign Birth Registration. In situations where the completion of registrations potentially impact on the rights of a person, it will consider urgent requests to expedite registered applications on a case by case basis. Such applicants are advised on the Department’s website to make contact with the Passport Service through the WebChat service.

Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (“the 1956 Act”), as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation.

The 1956 Act provides, inter alia, that persons born abroad to parents who themselves were born abroad, are eligible for entry into the Foreign Births Register (FBR) if their parents were Irish citizens at the time of the person’s birth. To change this, an amendment of the 1956 Act would be required.

The Department of Justice is responsible for citizenship matters. Any amendment to the 1956 Act is a matter for the Minister for Justice.