Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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758. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the average delay in processing applications for naturalisation from people who have lived legally for the requisite period in this country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44762/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and 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.

Processing times are now decreasing year on year. The median processing time for a decision on an application in 2023 was 15 months, down from a median processing time of 19 months in 2022.

Whilst a figure in respect of the current year is not yet available, based on the current output and at the current application levels, my Department expects that the median processing time will reduce again over the course of this year.

I expect that going forward the majority of applicants will receive a decision within one year.

It is important to note that no two applications are the same and some take longer than others to process.

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 increase processing with a view to speeding up the process for applicants. These included introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting.

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 and has already made more than 24,000 decisions to date in 2024.