Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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289. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of an application for citizenship (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36784/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Based on the information provided by the Deputy, it is not possible for my Department to confirm if an application for naturalisation has been received. However, all applications for naturalisation and general queries received in respect of same are dealt with in chronological order by date received.

When applications for a certificate of naturalisation are received by the Citizenship Division of my Department, they are subject to an initial check/examination. The Citizenship Division is currently completing initial checks on applications received in December 2021.

On completion of the initial checks, my Department will contact the applicant to assign them an application number and issue an acknowledgment to the address given at the time of making the application.

I can confirm that the person concerned has permission to remain in the State on stamp 4 conditions until 20 March 2023.

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

However, the combined impact of the 2019 High Court judgment in the Jones case, the necessary health restrictions arising from the pandemic, and my Department's response to the Ukraine crisis has regrettably resulted in the processing time for standard applications increasing.

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.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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290. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications received, granted, refused and still under consideration and refusals appealed under the scheme for regularisation of undocumented persons by month since the scheme opened in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36789/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department opened the once-in-a generation scheme for the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants in the State on 31 January 2022 for a six month period. The scheme is designed, following detailed engagement with the people affected, to give long-term undocumented people without a current immigration permission the chance to regularise their status, access the labour market and begin their path to citizenship.

The scheme genuinely is a once-off, life-changing opportunity to obtain status in the State. I encourage everyone eligible for the scheme, who has not yet made an application, to do so before the closing date. I can assure people that we are examining applications pragmatically and humanely and we are considering all viable proofs of residence.

If the Deputy is aware of someone who might be eligible for the scheme please encourage them to come forward. Applicants will be supported in a positive way and if they are not eligible for the scheme, other immigration options can be explored.

Applications can be made online at: inisonline.jahs.ie. Full details regarding the qualifying criteria, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document and the required documentation for the Scheme is available on my Department's website at: www.irishimmigration.ie/regularisation-of-long-term-undocumented-migrant-scheme/.

The figures requested by the Deputy are set out in the table below.

*Refers to the month in which the application was granted, not necessarily the month in which the application was received.

Details in relation to the separate international protection strand of the scheme are set out in the table below.

*An additional 444 applicants received an equivalent permission granted by another International Protection Office (IPO) Unit before their application under the scheme was finalised.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of an application to regularise undocumented status (details supplied); if this application has been acknowledged and is being processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36790/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The application for the person referred to by the Deputy was received by the Undocumented Unit of my Department on 20 February 2022 and continues to be processed. Applications to the scheme are submitted online and once the appropriate fee is paid the online system acknowledges the application.

Due to the large number of applications on hand it is not possible to provide a definitive timeframe for a decision to issue.

In order to be fair to all applicants, applications are processed in order of the date on which they are received. Processing times may vary depending on the complexity of the application, whether it is a single or family application, the supporting documentation and the vetting process with An Garda Síochána. Applications where there is an existing deportation order in place will also require additional processing.

Each application received is assessed individually in accordance with the published criteria, available on my Department's immigration website at: www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Undocumented-Policy-Scheme-January-2022.pdf.

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.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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292. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 320 of 26 May 2022, if her Department’s review of the new scorecard system for persons who have recently turned 18 is finalised; if the updated scorecards and guidelines are now available for applicants to review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36811/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm to the Deputy that the updated scorecards are expected to issue shortly and will be uploaded to my Department's immigration website (www.irishimmigration.ie).

The scorecard was introduced to help applicants to complete their applications with greater certainty than before. Since the go-live of the scorecards, my officials inform me that there has not been any reduction in the number of applications being received when compared to previous years. However, a preliminary review of applications received in recent weeks indicates that the quality of the applications has markedly improved.

This is a welcome development and builds on other innovative measures recently introduced in the citizenship application process, including the deployment of “Tara” the e-chat bot, e-payments, e-tax clearance, Garda e-vetting, and the removal of the requirement to provide the original passport when making an application. All of these measures have positively enhanced the applicant's experience.

Notwithstanding this, I am aware that for some applicants the scorecard may not have adequately addressed their individual circumstances. In such cases, the Citizenship Division of my Department may accept a sworn affidavit, which could make up the deficit in points to enable the applicant to meet the necessary threshold. The affidavit will not be accepted in lieu of all appropriate proofs, only to make up the shortfall to enable the score of 150 points to be reached.

A previous examination by my Department of the citizenship application process indicated that incorrectly submitted applications were diverting considerable resources from general processing, resulting in the slowing down of all applications and adversely impacting on customer service.

Considerable effort has therefore gone into clarifying the application guidelines published on my Department's immigration website (www.irishimmigration.ie) and on making the application process itself more customer friendly, including the introduction of the new scorecard structure for proof of identity and residence.