Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 November 2024
713. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Justice to advise if the team in the naturalisation section of her Department have cleared the 4,000 paper applications, as committed to in an update circulated to applicants in May 2024 that confirmed the backlog would be cleared by the end of the summer; how many paper applications remain to be decided on; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44059/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI 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.
Of the applications received in 2022, I can advise the Deputy that 2,229 decisions have issued since the communication in May of this year. The remaining applications, from 2022 or before, are either more complex cases or ones where additional information is required before a final decision can be made.
Citizenship Division continue to take steps to finalise outstanding applications, including making contact with applicants directly to resolve outstanding matters wherever possible.
It is important to note that no two applications are the same and some take longer than others to process.
All applicants must undergo Garda vetting. Unfortunately, it is the case that some international checks can take a considerable amount of time and are largely out of the control of my Department.
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 has already made more than 28,000 decisions to date in 2024.
Citizenship Division have 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 significantly reducing processing times. I expect that going forward the vast majority of new applicants will receive a decision within one year.
