Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 June 2024
95. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the procedures involved in cases in which the applicant for Irish citizenship is the son of an Irish passport holder, that is, an Irish citizen not born in Ireland, and a great grandson of an Irish citizen; and the details of their entitlement to citizenship. [27089/24]
View answerEntitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation.
For individuals born outside of Ireland, they may claim citizenship if they had at least one parent who was born in the island of Ireland and where that parent is an Irish citizen. An individual born on the island of Ireland before 1 January 2005 is automatically an Irish citizen.
Individuals who were not born in Ireland and whose Irish citizen parent was not born in Ireland can apply to become Irish citizens through their Irish-born grandparents through Foreign Birth Registration.
For individuals whose great-grandparent was born in Ireland, they may be entitled to apply for entry on the Foreign Birth Register (FBR) if their parent was an Irish citizen at the time of the applicant's birth. This means that their parent must have been entered on the Foreign Birth Register and been an Irish citizen before the applicant was born.
Further information on Foreign Birth Registration is available on my Department's website www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/.
