Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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546. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when citizenship will be available to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8102/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is governed by the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, and all applications are processed in line with the eligibility criteria as set out under the Act. Each application is assessed individually in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

A determination on whether an applicant satisfies the statutory criteria attendant to naturalisation can only be made after an application is received. Any applicant for citizenship should ensure that the meet the criteria as set down in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended and that their permission to be in the state is up to date.

Applicants are required to have 5 years reckonable residence in the State prior to making an application, except for spouses of Irish nationals where the requirement is 3 years. In both cases, the final 12 months must be continuous residence in the State with up to 6 weeks allowed to facilitate foreign travel for business family or holiday purposes.

Detailed information on Irish citizenship and the naturalisation process, along with the relevant application forms and guidance notes, is available on my Department's Irish Immigration website at: .

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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547. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date in the determination of an application for citizenship in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8103/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy was received by my Department in December 2021 and continues to be processed by my Department, with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation. It will be submitted to me for decision in due course.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.

The median processing time for applications now currently stands at 19 months. I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and my Department has been working hard to clear backlogs.

It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. However, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.

However, 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.

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.