Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1303. 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) who applied in 2019; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2101/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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This application for naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy, continues to be processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision in due course.

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. However, 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. 

In addition, the combined impact of the 2019 High Court judgment in the Jones case and the necessary health restrictions arising from the pandemic, has unfortunately resulted in the processing time for standard applications increasing. 

However, my Department is taking a number of steps to speed up the processing of applications and a number of digitisation measures have also been introduced to increase efficiency in the process, including eTax clearance, eVetting and online payments. The end result of the digitisation process will be to free up more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, to improve service to our customers and reduce waiting times.

In 2021, 11,512 citizenship decisions were delivered, significantly exceeding the levels achieved in the last two years. Additional staff have also been assigned to the citizenship team.  Based on these measures, my Department's objective is to achieve an improved timeframe of 6-9 months for decisions on a majority of applications during 2022.

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 at: INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, 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 Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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1304. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if flexibility can be introduced for persons applying for citizenship to reduce the total cost on applicants for providing evidence through bank statements or other personal data of their continuous residence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2112/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The application process for citizenship applications is reviewed on an ongoing basis to continually improve customer service quality. Feedback from applicants is taken on board and, as a result, a much more simplified, customer-focused and streamlined mechanism for applicants to provide proofs of their residence has been introduced. 

From this January, my Department has changed to a scorecard approach, which will bring added clarity regarding what information applicants are required to provide to establish their identity and residence. Applicants will be required to reach a score of 150 points in each of the years for which proof of residency is required. They will do this by submitting proofs with a predetermined point value until they reach the required score of 150 points for each year of residency. 

An applicant must also accumulate a total of 150 points for establishing identity in order to meet the appropriate standard. Where an applicant is not able to achieve 150 points, they can engage further with my Department to establish if there are any exceptional or compelling circumstances to allow them to meet the criteria for naturalisation.

Full details on the new arrangements can be found on my Department's Irish Immigration website at: www.irishimmigration.ie. 

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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1305. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if there are plans to collate data on the number of applications made on behalf of children for a certificate of nationality under section 28 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. [2166/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Under Section 28 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956:

Any person who claims to be an Irish citizen, other than a naturalised Irish citizen, may apply to the Minister or, if resident outside the island of Ireland, to any Irish diplomatic officer or consular officer for a certificate, of nationality stating that the applicant is, at the date of the certificate, an Irish citizen; and the Minister or officer, if satisfied that

(a) the applicant is an Irish citizen, and

(b) the issue of the certificate is necessary in all the circumstances of the case,

may issue a certificate of nationality to him accordingly.

My Department has not received any applications for a Certificate of Nationality under Section 28 of the Act.

As provided for in the legislation, a person may also apply directly to the Department of Foreign Affairs to obtain a Certificate of Nationality under these circumstances, and that Department will assess the application and grant a Certificate of Nationality where the criteria are met.