Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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501. 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); when the application is expected to be finalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22946/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy 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 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.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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502. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of citizenship applications received in each of the years 2019 to 2022; and the number of decisions made on citizenship applications in the corresponding timeframe. [23014/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In 2022 there were 13,613 Certificates of Naturalisation issued, including 1,719 in respect of minor applicants. This represents a 39% increase on the number of certificates issued for 2021 (9,780) and demonstrates my Department's commitment to processing applications in a timely manner.

The median processing time for Citizenship 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.

The current backlog in application processing in Citizenship has arisen largely due to the legacy of restrictions imposed on staff attendance in the office during the pandemic. As the process is largely paper based, applications are most efficiently processed with staff onsite.

Prior to that, an adverse court judgment in 2019 (the Jones judgment) effectively suspended processing for a period of 5 months before the Minister successfully appealed the judgment in November 2019.

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.

In other instances, information requested from the applicant may be outstanding or there may be a delay in receiving supporting information.

There are ongoing developments and improvements being made to the citizenship application process to help make it more efficient and reduce the amount of time it takes. Significant reforms have been introduced for customers to streamline the number of proofs required to establish their identity and residency as part of the application process. A new scorecard was introduced to help applicants to complete their applications.

This development builds on other innovative measures introduced in the application process, including the deployment of “Tara” the e-chat bot, as well as e-payments, and Gardaí e-vetting, and the removal of the requirement to provide the original passport when making an application, all of which have positively enhanced the applicant's experience.

The number of applications received and decisions from 2019-2022 are;