Cormac Devlin
Ceist:610. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice if the case of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed and the appropriate action taken; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8388/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 17 February 2021
Ceisteanna (610)
Freagraí scríofa
My Department has not suspended the receipt or processing of citizenship applications at any stage during the pandemic. However, processing rates have unfortunately been negatively impacted by the attendant health and safety related restrictions.
Applications for naturalisation and general queries are currently being dealt with in chronological order. Due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the attendant requirement to comply with public health guidelines, significant delays are being experienced in general processing, particularly those functions which require a staff presence in the office. The Citizenship Division of the Immigration Service of my Department is working very hard to maintain as prompt a service delivery as possible, under the circumstances.
Under normal circumstances, passports are returned approximately 10 days after their receipt. However, the current limits on staff attendance in the office has resulted in delays in the return of some passports. If the person concerned sends the post tracking reference by email to the citizenship helpdesk citizenshipinfo@justice.ie, the Division can confirm whether the documents have arrived to the office.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.