Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when applications for foreign birth registrations (details supplied) will be issued to two children; the reason for the delay in making a decision on the foreign birth registration that will enable a passport application to be lodged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48397/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish Citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.

Demand for this service increased significantly as a result of the Brexit vote in the UK. In 2015, prior to Brexit, a total of 6,000 entries were made to the register. In 2019, a peak number of 19,000 entries were made to the Foreign Births Register. Demand for this service from applicants in England, Scotland and Wales continues to be strong with over 8,000 applications received to date this year.

The service was also impacted by necessary Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 and the unprecedented demand for passports seen to date in 2022.

My Department is currently putting in place a number of measures that will address the volume of FBR applications currently on hand with a view to significantly reducing the processing time for these citizenship applications by the end of this year.

Supporting documentation for the applications to which the Deputy has referred was received on 31 March 2021, and is being stored in a secure environment as the applications await entitlement checking.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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338. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when a foreign birth registration application by a person (details supplied) will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48499/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish Citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.

Demand for this service increased significantly as a result of the Brexit vote in the UK. In 2015, prior to Brexit, a total of 6,000 entries were made to the register. In 2019, a peak number of 19,000 entries were made to the Foreign Births Register. Demand for this service from applicants in England, Scotland and Wales continues to be strong with over 8,000 applications received to date this year.

The service was also impacted by necessary Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 and the unprecedented demand for passports seen to date in 2022.

My Department is currently putting in place a number of measures that will address the volume of FBR applications currently on hand with a view to significantly reducing the processing time for these citizenship applications by the end of this year.

Supporting documentation for the application to which the Deputy has referred was received on 16 June 2022, and is being stored in a secure environment as the application awaits entitlement checking.