Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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323. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 413 of 9 September 2021, if he will report on the progress on allocation of further resources to reduce the processing times for applications to the foreign births register; the number of applications on the foreign births register system currently awaiting processing; the current processing time for applications; if applications by expectant parents will be prioritised given the potential impact on their children's citizenship in cases in which a parent is not registered prior to the birth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57499/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The processing of Foreign Birth Registration resumed on 15th November and will be gradually scaling up in line with the recruitment of additional resources.

My Department is fully committed to allocating additional resources over the coming period to assist with the processing of the high volume of new applications anticipated and the 32,000 Foreign Birth Registration applications currently on hand. This will be a major challenge, but one that we are committed to achieving.

My Department is actively working with the Public Appointments Service to recruit and assign additional permanent and temporary staff in the coming weeks. This recruitment drive will bring total staffing at the Passport Service to 920 by the end of January 2022, effectively doubling the number of staff within six months. The Passport Service considers that these additional resources will greatly help to meet the needs of the Foreign Birth Registration teams who will be processing the applications currently on hand as well as dealing with incoming new applications.

Foreign Birth Registration applications are citizenship applications and, as in all jurisdictions, involve a complex and lengthy process. The Passport Service has a statutory responsibility to protect the integrity of this citizenship process. Accordingly, it has to assure very careful analysis takes place across its systems to verify both the identity of the applicant and their entitlement to Irish citizenship. Experienced staff at the Passport Service provide systematic, detailed and rigorous checks of all Foreign Birth Registration applications.

Demand for Foreign Birth Registration services reached unprecedented levels following the Brexit referendum in 2016. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the processing time for Foreign Birth Registration applications stood at 18 months.

Foreign Birth Registration applications that have been submitted to the Passport Service are being securely held and are now being processed in strict order based on date of receipt. The Passport Service is highly motivated to clear the current backlog as soon as possible and to return to pre-Covid-19 processing times. However, it is challenging to predict what pent-up demand has built up while the service has been paused. Due to the complex nature of the Foreign Birth Registration and the pause in the Service due to the Covid-19 restrictions, applicants are being advised that they should allow approximately 2 years for processing of Foreign Birth Registration applications at this time.

The Foreign Birth Registration teams have worked since the pandemic began to consider all urgent requests to expedite applications on a case by case basis, for example applications from expectant parents, or stateless persons. Over 5,000 emergency Foreign Birth Registration applications have been processed in 2021. In cases of exceptional urgency FBR applicants may continue to contact the Passport Service directly.