Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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124. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of paper applications for naturalisation by Irish association received by his Department in each of the years 2017 to 2023, inclusive, in tabular form and the number of these applications which have been finalised and a decision reached; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50787/25]

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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125. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff currently on the designated team in the citizenship division responsible for processing citizenship applications via Irish association, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50788/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 125 together.

I can inform the Deputy that it is not possible to provide statistics on the number of applications and decisions based on Section 16 'Irish Association' received each year from 2017 to 2023. This would require the manual examination of thousands of cases. Such an examination would require a disproportionate amount of time to compile.

Following the recent introduction of the new Section 16 'Irish Association' guidelines, arrangements to separately record such applications have been put in place.

The guidelines provide clarity to both applicants and decision-makers on what factors may be considered when deciding whether to waive such naturalisation conditions under Section 16 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. These new guidelines have been developed in the interests of fair and transparent procedures and comprehensive decision making.

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

My Department has 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 have been received.

Since May 2025, 140 decisions on Irish Association applications have been made.

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 staff from across the Division.