Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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530. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current staffing levels of the section responsible for the processing of citizenship applications; and the plans there are to increase same given the expended period of time beyond normal that some applicants have been waiting. [16570/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The staffing levels in the Citizenship Division of my Department are kept under review in line with the business needs of the Division. Additional staff have been assigned to the team, as required.

At the end of February 2022, there were 25,048 naturalisation applications in progress. Notwithstanding the restrictions, last year, my Department made 11,512 citizenship decisions, which is the highest level since 2015.

Currently, there are 2,556 approved applications in the system that require the completion and submission of the Declaration of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State, the payment of the statutory fee and the submission of other required documents by the applicants. These applications will then be finalised and the certificate of naturalisation awarded.

All applications for a certificate of naturalisation are processed and assessed individually in accordance with the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended.

Processing times have been extended due to the combined impact of the 2019 High Court judgment in the Jones case and the necessary health and safety related restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 disruption.

My Department has also been unable to hold in-person citizenship ceremonies during this time. However, I'm pleased to say that, subject to public health guidelines, my Department intends to host in-person citizenship ceremonies in June and December in Killarney.

The citizenship application process 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 their proofs of residence has recently been introduced.

To further speed up the processing of applications, 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. Additional staff have also been assigned to the citizenship team.

Since the beginning of this year, new applicants for citizenship no longer have to submit their original passport with their application. Instead, they can provide a full colour copy of their entire passport, including the front and back covers. This change in practice is welcomed by our customers and is also freeing up valuable staff time that up to now has been engaged in returning passports to applicants.