Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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446. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the naturalisation application of a family who submitted their application in January 2023 (details supplied) and have yet to receive a decision; if he is aware of the significant emotional and practical distress this delay is causing the family, including issues relating to employment, and travel; the steps being taken to address such prolonged delays in the naturalisation process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26705/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The naturalisation applications from the people referred to by the Deputy continue to be processed by my Department.

I can also assure the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible.

I understand that extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants, however, 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. The median processing time for a decision on an application in 2024 was 8 months, down from 15 months in 2023, and 19 months in 2022.

I expect that going forward, the majority of applicants will continue to receive a decision within one year, however, it is important to note that no two naturalisation 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 outside of the control of my Department.

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 made more than 31,000 decisions in 2024.

Furthermore, 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 ceremonies on a regular basis during 2025.

All applicants can now directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s Customer Service Portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at:

As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@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.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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447. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will expedite an application (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26707/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, my Department is unable to publish any information that would identify any person as being an international protection applicant. This is a separate matter to the law dealing with data protection matters more generally.?

My officials and I are legally obliged, under Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015, to ensure that the identity of any person who applies for international protection is kept confidential. Section 26(1) sets out that:

“the Minister and the Tribunal and their respective officers shall take all practicable steps to ensure that the identity of applicants is kept confidential”.

As I am sure you will appreciate, these confidentiality requirements are especially important for an asylum-seeker, whose claim inherently supposes a fear of persecution by the authorities of their home country and whose situation, or that of their family or friends still living in the country from which they have sought protection, can be jeopardised if the protection of their personal information is not ensured.

An applicant for such protection status, or their legal representative, should contact either the International Protection Office (IPO) or the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) directly, as appropriate if they wish to receive an?update on the status of their case.

Contact information for The International Protection Office can be found at

Contact information for The International Protection Appeals Tribunal can be found at

Both the International Protection Office (IPO) and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) are fully independent in deciding whether or not to grant international protection. Each application is examined individually on its own merits, in line with national and international asylum law. They are also bound by confidentiality provisions in respect of applicants as set out in the International Protection 2015 Act.

Additionally, I can assure you it is my intention to continue to ramp up investment in the end-to-end international protection process to speed up decision making. This will support reaching key targets, including making 25,000 decisions in the IPO in 2025 and to increase the number of appeals at the IPAT completed over the course of 2025.