Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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182. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the action being taken to address the issue of backlogs in the processing of paper applications for citizenship; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26715/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants. I want to assure anyone who has an application for naturalisation submitted that the Citizenship Division of my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible. However, it is important to note that no two applications are the same and some take longer than others to process, and all require Garda vetting.

The previous backlogs in application processing in Citizenship had arisen largely due to the legacy of restrictions imposed on staff attendance in the office during the pandemic.

Since then, Citizenship Division have taken a significant number of steps to speed up the process for applicants. These include introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting. I can further advise the Deputy that Citizenship Division has a dedicated team in place to process older, paper based, applications.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that these changes are significantly reducing processing times. I expect that going forward the vast majority of applicants will receive a decision within one year, down from a median of 18 months.

In just over two years the Citizenship Division of my Department has gone from processing around 12,000 applications a year to processing over 20,000 applications in 2023.

Already in 2024, 16,000 decisions have been made in the first half of the year.

Last year, Citizenship Division more than doubled the number of ceremonies available to applicants with 15 held over the course of 2023. This was a significant increase on 6 Citizenship Ceremonies held in 2022. It is envisioned that this number will be significantly surpassed this year, with 15 ceremonies already taking place by the end of June.