Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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460. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will conduct a technical review of the recently introduced online citizenship application portal, in light of widespread reports that it fails to provide accurate or up-to-date information for applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26953/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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461. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will introduce clear service standards for responses to queries submitted to the citizenship division, including timelines for reply and protocols for resolution and follow-up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26954/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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462. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a public update on the operational status of the new citizenship application portal; if he will acknowledge recent issues raised by applicants regarding its functionality and reliability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26955/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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463. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of complaints or queries submitted to the citizenship division over the past 12 months; the number that were closed without a written reply or resolution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26956/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 460, 461, 462 and 463 together.

As part of my Department’s continued commitment to improving its services, an online citizenship application portal was made available in October 2023. This portal is a separate system to the Customer Service Portal and has made the application process easier for applicants, allowing them to easily fill in relevant forms and submit their application online.

These improvements, along with the introduction of online payments and eVetting, are having a positive impact on naturalisation processing times. The length of time taken to process an application has dropped from 15 months in 2023, to 8 months in 2024.

Since the launch of the online application and up to the end of April 2025, 43,785 applications have been successfully received via the online system. This digitisation has facilitated a record number of citizenship decisions made last year. 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.

In cases where incomplete applications are received, the application is returned to the applicant with a request to provide the missing documentation within 28 days. A reminder is issued after 18 days if the required documentation has still not been provided. Citizenship Division are aware that in some instances, applicants are uploading the documentation but failing to resubmit the application. It is essential that applicants complete the process to resubmit their application.

My Department has produced a guidance document for all potential applicants which outlines the documents required for an application. This document is published on my Department's Immigration website and is available here: www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Citizenship-Guidance-Document-April-2024.pdf

In the first quarter of this year, over 5,000 applicants have successfully uploaded missing documentation/information, and successfully resubmitted their application for consideration.

Separately, in keeping with the Government commitment to significantly enhance the delivery of public services digitally, phase one of my Department's Immigration Customer Service Portal went live in October 2024. The Customer Service Portal is a self-service portal that enables applicants to check their immigration application status, book first-time registration appointments, and submit queries. The Customer Service Portal is now the primary avenue to communicate with my Department's immigration function which is committed to providing the best possible service to applicants and a centralised team has been established specifically to support applicants.

I can advise that the status being provided to customers on the Customer Service Portal in relation to their naturalisation application is accurate, and there has been very little reported technical or IT related issues with this function. The Customer Service Portal will detail to customers that their naturalisation application is at the stage of; “Application received, Application accepted, Application in progress, Application Decision, or Application Complete”.

Since the launch of the Customer Service Portal and up to 26 May, I can advise the Deputy that there are now 122,726 registered customers, and there has been 87,110 resolved queries. More specifically, there has been 10,616 queries resolved relating to citizenship. Additionally, 46,716 successful appointments have been made.

Over the last 12 months, there has been 35 complaints regarding Citizenship Division. These complaints have been processed in line with my Department’s complaints procedure, available here: assets.gov.ie/static/documents/C_Dept_of_Justice_Customer_Complaints_Procedure.pdf.

Since October 2024, complaints are now being received through the Customer Service Portal, as well as through traditional hardcopy post. These 35 complaints have to be viewed in the context of the more than 29,200 citizenship applications made over the last 12 months.

The Deputy may wish to be aware that my Department already has in place a customer service charter, which is available on my Department’s website here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice/publications/the-department-of-justice-customer-charter-20232025/. This details the level of service customers can expect when interacting with my Department. This includes a commitment to answering queries within 20 working days.

My Department continues to monitor customer experience and is committed to its continuous improvement. The functionality of all our online platforms are under constant review.