Written answers

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Department of Justice and Equality

Citizenship Applications

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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1364. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who have been awarded Irish citizenship and their country of origin from 2015 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30662/22]

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy can be found in the attached table. Where the total number of people of any given country of origin is less than five, no further breakdown is provided to protect the identity of the people concerned. 

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. 

It should be noted that last year, my Department made 11,512 citizenship decisions, which is the highest level since 2015, and this work has continued apace in 2022.

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.

I am also pleased to confirm that my Department will host the first in-person citizenship ceremony since the pandemic on 20 June 2022, with further ceremonies scheduled in December 2022, in Killarney.

Column1 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Grand Total
Afghanistan 80 46 39 36 15 25 81 75 397
Albania 78 40 14 26 13 25 57 25 278
Algeria 79 54 20 25 8 8 51 40 285
Angola 78 46 26 16 7 8 19 9 209
Argentina 18 9 15 10 7 13 25 9 106
Armenia 16 11 2 9 3 3 6 3 53
Australia 57 36 32 32 31 12 66 30 296
Austria 1 3 2 3 0 1 2 1 13
Azerbaijan 5 2 2 2 3 3 6 3 26
Bahrain 0 1 2 2 0 0 2 0 7
Bangladesh 141 111 79 81 58 41 146 87 744
Barbados 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 5
Belarus 64 46 29 30 22 16 23 8 238
Belgium 5 4 3 4 6 3 4 4 33
Benin 7 0 1 2 0 1 2 1 14
Bhutan 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 6
Bolivia 3 4 2 2 1 1 3 4 20
Bosnia And Herzegovina 15 12 11 8 3 5 8 2 64
Botswana 7 7 4 5 7 4 11 3 48
Brazil 393 303 264 219 187 179 334 172 2,051
British Overseas Citizens (etc) 21 11 8 3 4 4 9 0 60
Bulgaria 107 76 60 57 47 62 75 33 517
Burkina Faso 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 8
Burundi 13 2 3 2 0 0 3 4 27
Cambodia 1 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 7
Cameroon 79 43 38 33 27 24 46 16 306
Canada 52 43 18 31 19 28 48 21 260
Chad 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 6
Chile 7 8 2 3 1 1 7 2 31
China (Including Hong Kong) 478 304 224 233 160 129 293 120 1,941
Colombia 13 17 11 15 8 5 15 9 93
Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The 245 155 74 56 34 43 101 66 774
Congo, The Republic Of The 11 9 4 4 3 1 6 2 40
Costa Rica 0 3 0 0 2 2 0 0 7
Cote D'Ivoire 24 10 9 5 8 3 17 5 81
Croatia 33 17 15 14 19 17 49 25 189
Cuba 8 4 2 5 2 7 4 4 36
Cyprus 0 2 1 0 2 0 1 1 7
Czech Republic 30 40 32 27 18 10 20 16 193
Denmark 0 4 4 2 1 1 5 0 17
Dominican Republic 4 2 4 0 2 1 5 1 19
Ecuador 4 3 3 2 3 0 1 3 19
Egypt 126 81 60 71 52 46 108 56 600
El Salvador 2 0 1 0 1 4 0 0 8
Eritrea 13 11 2 5 3 0 11 9 54
Estonia 27 25 24 23 11 16 23 7 156
Ethiopia 24 18 16 11 13 8 15 6 111
Fiji 4 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 8
Finland 1 6 1 2 2 3 0 0 15
France 25 25 31 28 20 15 29 15 188
Gambia 1 4 3 5 3 3 1 2 22
Georgia 46 31 30 18 18 17 35 29 224
Germany 33 27 26 42 26 15 35 18 222
Ghana 123 64 41 32 26 33 51 20 390
Greece 8 13 14 13 15 8 5 4 80
Guatemala 3 3 1 0 1 2 1 0 11
Guinea 22 10 7 16 6 3 12 6 82
Honduras 2 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 8
Hungary 172 216 163 142 101 80 114 41 1,029
India 1,616 1,028 665 629 514 465 746 302 5,965
Indonesia 8 6 7 6 3 5 10 2 47
Iran (Islamic Republic Of) 74 36 31 27 0 15 49 54 286
Iraq 99 39 24 23 12 22 65 92 376
Israel 19 16 6 20 15 5 19 4 104
Italy 38 37 39 44 32 36 64 45 335
Jamaica 11 5 6 8 3 3 7 0 43
Japan 5 3 5 7 1 1 7 1 30
Jordan 9 10 7 16 5 5 14 8 74
Kazakhstan 7 6 6 9 7 4 8 6 53
Kenya 45 25 13 25 14 20 28 20 190
Korea, Republic Of (South Korea) 15 9 3 7 10 2 11 0 57
Kosovo / UNSCR 1244 35 19 11 10 10 12 23 4 124
Kuwait 12 7 3 3 5 1 9 14 54
Kyrgyzstan 5 4 1 0 1 2 3 1 17
Lao People's Democratic Republic 3 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 8
Latvia 328 380 392 308 221 146 240 73 2,088
Lebanon 17 19 7 6 12 12 28 6 107
Lesotho 0 3 6 1 0 2 2 1 15
Liberia 16 15 3 5 1 0 6 4 50
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 39 15 10 8 1 8 36 41 158
Lithuania 126 166 166 133 88 49 111 44 883
Malawi 17 12 13 4 10 8 19 14 97
Malaysia 149 111 68 76 39 27 69 27 566
Mali 0 1 1 0 1 3 4 2 12
Malta 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 0 6
Mauritius 76 74 68 76 68 59 85 46 552
Mexico 28 19 22 14 25 12 34 13 167
Missing 5 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 10
Moldova, Republic Of 131 70 43 26 32 30 42 8 382
Mongolia 19 16 19 10 8 5 25 15 117
Morocco 69 41 24 21 7 9 38 28 237
Mozambique 0 4 1 2 1 0 1 0 9
Multiple Nationality Recorded 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 7
Myanmar 10 9 3 1 1 0 6 5 35
Namibia 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 5
Nepal 42 32 13 17 16 25 23 10 178
Netherlands 7 4 5 6 5 0 9 1 37
New Zealand 26 31 15 14 14 9 28 10 147
Nicaragua 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 8
Niger 1 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 6
Nigeria 1,364 774 508 478 304 227 744 260 4,659
Other 6 1 1 3 1 2 2 0 16
Pakistan 730 419 340 363 125 136 611 466 3,190
Palestinian Territory, Occupied 23 9 9 10 6 14 20 16 107
Panama 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 5
Paraguay 0 5 1 0 0 2 1 0 9
Peru 15 11 5 8 5 6 3 3 56
Philippines 1,165 729 362 319 191 157 218 104 3,245
Poland 1,159 1,324 1,357 1,463 925 758 819 318 8,123
Portugal 11 11 14 18 4 9 10 12 89
Romania 902 756 763 819 552 538 721 370 5,421
Russian Federation 156 109 95 91 70 66 113 69 769
Rwanda 12 4 4 1 5 2 9 2 39
Saint Lucia 0 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 7
Saudi Arabia 1 1 0 0 0 0

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