Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 December 2013
82. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress on reducing waiting times and achieving efficiencies in the citizenship application process since 2011; and the impact this has had on the number of persons in the direct provision system. [52635/13]
View answerWhen I came into office in March 2011 one of my immediate priorities was to address the large backlog of citizenship applications for naturalisation pending a decision that had built up over several years. At that time there were approximately 22,000 applications awaiting decision, many of which had been waiting for 3 years or longer. Notwithstanding the significant increase of almost 60% in the volume of valid applications received - from 12,500 in 2010 to just under 20,000 in 2012 - some 68,000 decisions on valid naturalisation applications have been made since I came into office. In the past year I have decided over 30,000 applications and issued certificates of naturalisation to some 28,000 applicants. Quite clearly, this has also resulted in a huge reduction in processing times, with over 70% of standard applications now being decided within 5 months. This is a major reform given the 115% increase in valid application levels since 2008, when processing times were more than 4 times longer. At present, there are approximately 8,500 applications pending a decision. It is my intention that we will continue to build on this success in 2014 and to further reduce the time taken to reach a decision for most applications.
As the Deputy will appreciate, as well as being a significant event in the life of its recipient, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is also a major step for the State as it confers certain rights and entitlements, not only within the State, but also at European Union level. It is therefore vital that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process. All applications are processed with a view to establishing whether the applicants meet the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation, such as good character and lawful residence, and are submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible. In some instances that can be established relatively quickly and in other cases completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.
This successful tackling of the backlog of citizenship applications has no direct impact on the direct provision system as persons in direct provision have not yet had their protection applications determined. If a person is successful in a protection application, he or she may apply for a certificate of naturalisation when they are in a position to meet the statutory residency requirements. It is my objective to speed up the protection determination process to the greatest possible extent, consistent with natural justice and asylum law, to keep the number of persons housed in this system as low as humanly possible.
In conclusion, the Deputy may wish to note that the greater majority of successful naturalisation applicants are not asylum seekers and in fact are migrants who came to Ireland for work and other related reasons.
