Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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679. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department is aware of the current delays associated with new citizens receiving their certificates of naturalisation; if consideration has been given to an arrangement for individuals who have recently received their citizenship to be able to register to vote in advance of receiving their naturalisation certificates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51343/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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All certificates of naturalisation for attendees of a citizenship ceremony are issued via registered post. Applicants can expect to receive their certificate within around a month of the date of the ceremony.

With regards to the matters raised, the Deputy will appreciate that electoral matters are not my Department's responsibility. However, my Department is doing everything possible to ensure that new citizens receive their certificates as soon as possible.

By not issuing certificates on the day of the ceremonies, my Department has been able to simplify the administrative steps required to be completed on the day. This in turn has made it possible to significantly increase the number of attendees who can attend any one day of ceremonies, and to reduce the time it takes for people to complete the naturalisation process.

These steps are part of an overall programme of work to speed up the naturalisation process for applicants. This includes introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting.

My Department held 24 citizenship ceremonies last year, an increase from 15 held in 2023, and 6 in 2022. My Department has already held 19 ceremonies this year and will continue to hold more ceremonies on a regular basis.

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 more than 31,000 decisions in 2024.