Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 June 2025
1072. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of applications for Irish citizenship received so far in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30544/25]
View answer1073. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average processing time for applications for Irish citizenship; how this compares with average processing times in 2023 and 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30545/25]
View answer1074. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of staff currently working in the Citizenship Unit of the Department of Justice; how this compares with staffing numbers in 2023 and 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30546/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1072, 1073 and 1074 together.
I can assure the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible and have taken a significant number of steps to speed up the process for applicants.
These included introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting. This digitisation has facilitated a record number of citizenship decisions made last year. In just over two years, the Citizenship Division of my Department has gone from processing around 12,000 applications a year, to processing over 20,000 applications in 2023, and made more than 31,000 decisions in 2024.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that these changes are also dramatically reducing processing times.
The below table shows the median application processing time for citizenship applications from 2022 to 2024. The median processing time is calculated at the end of each year, therefore, the 2025 figure is not currently available.
|
Year |
Median Processing Time |
|
2022 |
18 |
|
2023 |
15 |
|
2024 |
8 |
*Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.
I expect that going forward, the majority of applicants will continue to receive a decision within one year, however, it is important to note that no two naturalisation applications are the same and some take longer than others to process. Given the importance of citizenship, robust and comprehensive checks must take place on each application. Unfortunately, some international checks can take a considerable amount of time, and these are largely outside of the control of my Department.
As part of my Department’s continued commitment to improving its services, an online citizenship application portal was made available in October 2023. Since the launch of the online application in October 2023, a total of 50,225 applications have been successfully received via the online system. For 2025, up to 31 May, 17,364 applications have been received via the online system.
Furthermore, my Department held 24 citizenship ceremonies last year, an increase from the 15 ceremonies held in 2023, and the 6 that were held in 2022. My Department has already held 6 ceremonies this year and the next seven ceremonies are taking place on 23 and 24 June 2025 at the INEC, Killarney.
The Citizenship Division of my Department currently has 81 staff assigned across all grades, with a whole time equivalent of approximately 75 staff. Staffing levels are kept under constant review and additional staff have been assigned to the team as required.
The table below shows the number of staff assigned to Citizenship Division of my Department for 2023, 2024, and currently assigned in 2025.
|
Year |
Staff |
|
2023 |
65 |
|
2024 |
65 |
|
2025 |
81 |
*Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.
