Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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210. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps being taken to address the delays in processing immigration applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8241/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and 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.

Citizenship Division have taken a significant number of steps to speed up the process for applicants. These included introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that these changes are dramatically reducing processing times.

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 nearly 31,000 in 2024. This has meant that the length of time it takes to process an application has dropped from 15 months in 2023 to 8 months in 2024.

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

It is, however, important to note that no two applications are the same and some take longer than others to process. Given the importance of citizenship, robust and comprehensive checks must take place on each application. Unfortunately, some international checks can take a considerable amount of time and these are largely out of the control of the Immigration Service.

My Department held 24 citizenship ceremonies last year, an increase from the 15 ceremonies held in 2023, and the 6 that were held in 2022. My Department has already held 6 ceremonies this year and will continue to hold more ceremonies on a regular basis during 2025.