Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1456. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the protocol for next steps for his Department to make a final decision on citizenship applications meeting the 50% points in two categories of the new guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44581/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1457. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the protocol for the next steps for his Department to make a final decision on the application once an applicant for citizenship via Irish association meets the 50% points in two categories of the new guidelines; and the remaining information or actions needed to resolve the case promptly. [44582/25]

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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1483. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of staff currently in the citizenship division; the total number of staff in the designated team responsible for processing citizenship applications via Irish association given that the 1,500 pending applications have an excess of 30-months minimum processing time, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44933/25]

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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1484. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the measures his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of citizenship applications via Irish association to prevent any further delay, in view that the 1,500 pending applications have an excess of 30-months minimum processing time in comparison to thousands of other applicants who have an eight-month processing time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44934/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1507. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department will focus on prioritising upcoming citizenship ceremony invitations for old Irish association paper applicants (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45088/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1456, 1457, 1483, 1484 and 1507 together.

All applications for a certificate of naturalisation are assessed individually in accordance with the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended.

Section 15 of the Act sets out the statutory conditions that must be fulfilled for a certificate of naturalisation to be granted. Section 16 of the Act gives discretion to waive the statutory conditions in certain circumstances, including where the applicant is of Irish descent or Irish associations (related through blood, affinity or adoption to a person who is or is entitled to be an Irish citizen).

My Department has recently published guidelines for applications on the basis of Irish Associations under Section 16(1)(a) of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. The guidelines provide clarity to both applicants and decision-makers. They set out the factors that may be considered when deciding whether to waive the statutory conditions in certain circumstances, including where the applicant is of Irish descent or Irish associations.

Details of the guidelines are available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/.

Citizenship Division have written to over 1,500 people with ongoing Section 16 applications advising them of the recently published guidelines and have afforded them an opportunity to them to provide additional documentation, should they wish.

I can advise the Deputy that a significant number of submissions relating to Section 16 'Irish Association' applications have been received, and that decisions on these applications have begun to issue.

Once an application has been approved and the appropriate certificate fee has been paid, the person will receive an invitation to attend a Citizenship Ceremony.

I can assure the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible; however, given the nature of these applications, Section 16 applications can take longer to process than applications based upon residency.

Any application under Section 16 that relies on Irish associations and affinity must be supported by substantive documentation to establish what renders the application exceptional and one where the normal pathways to citizenship provided for under the legislation are not appropriate.

Citizenship Division currently has 81 staff assigned across all grades. Staffing levels are kept under review and additional staff have been assigned to the team as required. There is no dedicated unit within Citizenship Division to exclusively process Section 16 applications which are being processed by officials from across the Division.