Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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3. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he can assist in expediting a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21386/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008 ("the 2008 Act"), as amended. The 2008 Act provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to that person. Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 ("the 1956 Act"), as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation.

Under the 1956 Act, my Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.

FBR, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate and applications cannot be expedited.

FBR applications are currently being processed within the normal turnaround time of 9 months from receipt of supporting documents. This is a decrease in turnaround time of 75% from over two and a half years in 2022. Applications that require further supporting documents will take longer to process.

The Passport Service Customer Service Hub has dedicated agents to deal with Foreign Birth Registration application queries. The contact number for urgent Foreign Birth Registration queries is +353 1 568 3331. This number is also available on the Department's website.

With regard to the specific FBR application about which the Deputy has enquired, a member of the FBR team has been in touch with the citizen to advise them of the specific supporting documents required for their application.