Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when a person (details supplied) will receive an update on their application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44698/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The application to which the Deputy refers was received on 10 February 2020, and is currently waiting to be processed. All documentation submitted is being stored in a secure environment.

My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (“the 1956 Act”), as amended. We take our legal responsibility in relation to Foreign Birth Registration very seriously and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the processing time for these applications stood at 18 months. This is due to the complex nature of Foreign Birth Registration applications and the very high volume of applications we received due to Brexit.

The Passport Service is very concerned about this backlog situation and are actively planning to resume processing FBR applications as soon as possible. We will be making a public announcement on specific dates in the coming weeks.