Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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318. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of a naturalisation application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58085/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The application to which the deputy has referred is an application for entry onto the Foreign Births Register.

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.

Supporting documents for the application to which the deputy has referred were received on 6 October 2022, and are being stored in a secure environment until the application is checked for entitlement.