Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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496. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on a naturalisation application by a person (details supplied), where further information was requested in March 2023. [25711/23]

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.

A request for further documentation was made to the person concerned on 3 March 2023 and was received on 29 March 2023.

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.

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.

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 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.