Kathleen Funchion
Question:241. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of the foreign birth registration for a child (details supplied). [2472/23]
View answerThursday, 19 January 2023
Questions (241)
Written answers
My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish Citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.
Demand for this service increased significantly as a result of the Brexit vote in the UK. The service was also impacted by necessary Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 and the unprecedented demand for passports seen in 2022.
During 2022, my Department implemented a number of measures to address the volume of FBR applications on hand, with a view to significantly reducing the processing time for these applications. These measures, which include increased staffing directed towards the processing of FBR applications, have had a positive impact on the waiting time for applicants. The current waiting time for FBR applications is 11 months from receipt of supporting documents, down from over 2 years in mid 2022.
The FBR Service operates a transparent general policy of processing applications in order of receipt. Supporting documentation for the application to which the Deputy has referred was received on 3 June 2022, and is being stored in a secure environment pending entitlement checking.