Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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548. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of naturalisation applications; the number that are waiting more than 18 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15872/22]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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556. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons that are waiting between 12 to 24 and 24 to 36 months for a decision from the date of their first application to the Department for a certificate of naturalisation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16067/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 548 and 556 together.

I am deeply conscious of how important the granting of naturalisation is to those who apply for it and my Department continued to accept and process citizenship applications throughout the pandemic and during all levels of public health restrictions.

At the end of February 2022, there were 25,048 naturalisation applications in progress. The table below provides a breakdown of applications by length of time in the system.

However it should be noted that 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.

Current 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 currently intends to host in-person citizenship ceremonies in June and December of this year 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.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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549. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the reason naturalisation applications by persons (details supplied) have been delayed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15873/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The applications for naturalisation from the persons referred to by the Deputy, continue to be processed with a view to establishing whether the applicants meet the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision in due course.

Further documentation was recently requested from both persons concerned. The first person referred to by the Deputy has returned that documentation. Documentation requested from the second person referred to on 22 March 2022 is awaited.

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, my Department issued 11,512 citizenship decisions, which is the highest number of decisions made since 2015, and reflects positively the significant changes undertaken to date.