Catherine Murphy
Question:123. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of foreign birth registrations currently being processed within his Department. [46480/23]
View answerTuesday, 24 October 2023
Questions (123)
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. In 2015, prior to Brexit, 6,478 FBR applications were received, while in 2022, 27,748 applications were received.
Arising from Covid-19 restrictions, and the subsequent reassignment of FBR staff to assist in the provision of essential passport and consular services, the Foreign Birth Registration service was paused for a significant period across 2020 and 2021. During this time, processing was available for emergency FBR applications such as those submitted by stateless persons.
My Department has put in place a number of measures that have addressed the volume of FBR applications over the past year and has made significant progress in reducing the processing time for these citizenship applications. The processing time has reduced from over 2 years in 2022 to under 9 months in 2023. The Passport Service will continue to invest additional resources in the FBR unit with a view to further reducing the processing time by end of this year.
Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate. A significant proportion of FBR applications are incomplete on initial receipt and require additional supporting documents in order to allow the Passport Service to progress the application. The Passport Service contacts applicants to request required additional documents. Given the complexity of the applications, it can take some time for applicants to submit all of the required documents.
The number of applications for entry into the Foreign Births Register is 38,478. Of these, 28,827 are presently being processed by the Department. The remaining 9,651 have been partially processed and require further action by the applicants in order to finalise their application.