Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1127. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date in the determination of an application for permission to remain in the State on the basis of parentage of an Irish citizen child in the case of a person (details supplied) which was submitted on 1 February 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37863/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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An application for permission to remain in the State based on parentage of an Irish Citizen Child (ICCA) was received from the person referred to by the Deputy on 07 February 2023 and continues to be examined by my Department.

In order to be fair to all applicants, applications are dealt with in chronological order. My Department endeavours to process all applications as quickly as possible. However, processing times may vary due to a number of factors, such as the number of applications on hand, the complexity of applications, whether further information is required, and the resources available.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by email 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 email service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1128. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps being taken to finalise the application for citizenship in the case of a person (details supplied); when it is expected that the application will be finalised given that they applied two years ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37873/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department.

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.

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.

I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and my Department has been working hard to clear backlogs. All applicants with applications for naturalisation that were submitted prior to 2023 should have now received a request for e-Vetting to further process their application. Once the vetting is complete, and any additional information is not awaited from an applicant, the file will be progressed towards naturalisation.

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 the freeing up of more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, improving service to our customers and reduction of waiting times.

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

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.