Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
374. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice the status of a citizenship application (details supplied); when a decision is likely to issue, in light of the fact that the application was made over two years ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44049/23]
View answerThe naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department.
I am advised that the person concerned was to have a court case heard last month. Now that the Court date has passed the Citizenship Division will now issue the person with an eVetting invitation. Once the eVetting has been completed the application will be processed further.
The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.
I understand that extended waiting times can be frustrating for applicants. My Department is taking a number of steps to speed up the processing of applications and a number of digitisation measures have been introduced to increase efficiency in the process, including eVetting and online payments. The end result of the digitisation process will be the freeing up of more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, improving service to our customers and reduction of waiting times.
Finally, I can advise the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department intends to regularly communicate with all applicants on a quarterly basis into the future, to keep them updated on the status of their application.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
