Thomas Pringle
Question:114. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when a person (details supplied) will receive a decision on their Irish citizenship application which was submitted in April 2020. [11940/22]
View answerWednesday, 2 March 2022
Questions (114)
Written answers
My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended.
The processing of Foreign Birth Registration has resumed and will be gradually scaling up in line with the recruitment of additional resources. Due to the complex nature of the Foreign Birth Registration process, the large increase in applications received following the Brexit vote in the UK, and the pause in the Service due to necessary Covid-19 restrictions, applicants should allow approximately 2 years from the receipt of supporting documentation for processing of Foreign Birth Registration applications at this time. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, and the subsequent reassignment of Foreign Birth Registration staff to assist in the provision of essential passport services, the Foreign Birth Registration Service was paused for nearly 15 months across the 2020-2021 period.
The application of the father in this case was registered on 8 April 2020, and is due to be processed in the near future. A member of the FBR team will be in contact with the applicant shortly in this regard. The applications of the children were received on 29 September 2020, and are being stored in a secure environment.
The FBR service operates a transparent general policy of processing applications in order of receipt. FBR staff continue to provide an emergency service for Foreign Birth Registration in cases of exceptional urgency, such as expectant parents, or stateless persons. Such applicants may continue to contact the Passport Service directly.
My Department is fully committed to the continued allocation of additional resources over the coming period to assist with the processing of the Foreign Birth Registration applications currently on hand and the high volume of new applications anticipated this year.