Aidan Farrelly
Question:365. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Justice the number of citizenships revoked in the past ten years to date; and a breakdown of same, by nationality. [13067/25]
View answerThursday, 20 March 2025
Questions (365)
Written answers
The Minister for Justice is empowered to revoke Irish citizenship granted by naturalisation in accordance with the provisions of section 19 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (as amended). However, the function could not be operated for a period as the Supreme Court ruled in Damache v Minister for Justice [2020] that the revocation procedure under section 19 was unconstitutional. Changes made by the Court, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 addressed the issues giving rise to the Supreme Court judgment.
Revocation of Irish citizenship is only undertaken in the most serious of circumstances. The loss of citizenship has serious consequences and each case is considered very carefully. In the last 10 years, this power has been used six times. A breakdown of nationality is not generally provided with regard to immigration statistics where the number is low (generally less than 10); this is for reasons of confidentiality.