Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 May 2023
271. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice if applications for naturalisation have been submitted in the case of persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20272/23]
View answerThere is no record of the applications referred to by the Deputy, being received by my Department. However there is a small batch of applications that are yet to be registered and I am assured that these will be dealt with shortly. If the Deputy wishes to provide the postal tracking reference number and the date of posting of the applications via my Department's Oireachtas mail facility, I will arrange for a further search of the applications on hand and provide a further response to the Deputy.
When an application for a certificate of naturalisation is received by the Citizenship Division of my Department, they are subject to an initial check and examination.
On completion of the initial checks, my Department will assign an application number and issue an acknowledgment to the address given at the time of making the application.
I am deeply conscious of how important the granting of naturalisation is to those who apply for it and my Department has continued to accept and process citizenship applications throughout the pandemic and during all levels of public health restrictions.
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 eTax clearance, eVetting and online payments. The end result of the digitisation process will be to free up more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, to improve service to our customers and reduce waiting times.
In early 2023, a registration unit was established within Citizenship Division to ensure applications are registered and acknowledged promptly. In 2022 it took on average seven months for this part of the process to be completed. Under the new system it has been reduced to a matter of weeks.
These measures are designed to give certainty to customers that their applications have been received and have begun to be processed. However, I can assure you that all naturalisation applications will be processed based upon the date that they are received and not based on when they are registered. Applications for naturalisation are dealt with in chronological order.
