Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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435. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason that an application for registration of a foreign birth submitted in 2019 has yet to be processed (details supplied). [54440/22]

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.

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 has put 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.

This application was registered on 12 November 2019. The applicant was contacted by email on 31 August 2021 and again on 2 August 2022 seeking further documentation. The Passport Service is awaiting a response from the applicant.