Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I am deeply conscious of how important the granting of naturalisation is to all of those who apply for it. My Department is aware that delays in processing times are frustrating and disruptive for applicants, and we are working hard to improve the position.

Statistics are not complied or maintained in the manner requested by the Deputy. However, the median processing time for applications now currently stands at 19 months.

In the first six months of this year, Citizenship Division have made 10,346 decisions. These breakdown to 9,899 decisions to grant, 57 refusals, 379 deemed ineligible, 8 withdrawn, and 3 deceased. It is important to clarify that these decisions relate to all Naturalisation applications received and are not isolated to any one period or year of application.

To date in 2023, 6,061 naturalisation certificates have already issued and I can further advise the Deputy that approximately 8,700 of the applications on hand have in fact received a positive decision and are now in the process of making their final payment and/or being scheduled to attend the next citizenship ceremony.

This year 6,061 certificates have been issued to newly certificated Irish nationals, including 1,295 minors.

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.

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 also introduced to help applicants to complete their applications, and a new eVetting mechanism has been put in place.

My Department has recently written to 13,000 applicants providing electronic links to commence eVetting. When the vetting is complete, and additional information is not awaited from an applicant, the file will be progressed towards naturalisation.

Our expectation is that applicants from across 2021 and 2022 will be amongst those invited to citizenship ceremonies over the course of 2023.

Finally, I can advise the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department intends to regularly communicate with all applicants on a quarterly basis into the future, to keep them updated on the status of their application.