Michael Healy-Rae
Question:382. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding Irish citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1031/21]
View answerWednesday, 13 January 2021
Questions (382, 399)
Brendan Griffin
Question:399. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide correspondence to a foreign births registry applicant (details supplied) to allow the applicant to take up an employment opportunity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1521/21]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 382 and 399 together.
The Passport Service has paused the processing of Foreign Births Registration (FBR) applications as Ireland is at Level 5 of the National Framework for Living with COVID-19. Applications that have been sent to the FBR team are being held securely and will be processed when normal services resume at Level 3 of the Framework.
The impact of Brexit on applications for Foreign Birth Registration has been significant. In 2014, approximately 10,000 applications were received. In 2019, approximately 32,000 were received. Applicants resident in Great Britain account for around half of all applications. Prior to the introduction of the current restrictions, FBR applications were taking 12 to 18 months to process.
Foreign Births Registration, by its nature, can be a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation related to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions.
With regard to the specific FBR application about which the Deputy has enquired, the Passport Service has advised that this application was made on 21 December 2020. While supporting documents for this application may have been sent to the Department, these have not yet been registered due to the pausing of operations.
It is not possible to provide any confirmation that an individual meets the criteria for Irish citizenship until the application has been processed in full and the individual has been entered on to the Foreign Births Register.