Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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655. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide a specific timeframe for when the backlog will be cleared and finished for the remaining old paper citizenship applications; and when exactly these remaining paper applicants will be notified of a citizenship decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37689/25]

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

In the recent past, there was a backlog of older cases due to the legacy of Covid-19 and the previous paper-based nature of applications. I can advise the Deputy that Citizenship Division have put in place a dedicated team to the processing of these applications and a significant number of these applications have received a decision in the last month. Citizenship Division continue to work to finalise all remaining applications.

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.

Citizenship Division have also 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. This is a significant improvement from the median processing time of 15 months in 2023, 19 months in 2022, and 24 months in 2021.

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

Applicants can now directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s new Customer Service Portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at: portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/