Foreign Birth Registration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 September 2021

Tuesday, 21 September 2021

Ceisteanna (327, 329)

Mary Lou McDonald

Ceist:

327. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of applications that are currently in the foreign births registration system awaiting processing. [44961/21]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Ceist:

329. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of his plans to resume the processing of foreign birth registrations; the estimated backlog at this time; the length of time it will take to clear; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44976/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Foreign Affairs

I propose to take Questions Nos. 327 and 329 together.

My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (“the 1956 Act”), as amended. We take our legal responsibility in relation to Foreign Birth Registration very seriously and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the processing time for these applications stood at 18 months. This is due to the complex nature of Foreign Birth Registration applications and the very high volume of applications we received due to Brexit.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic Foreign Birth Registration application processing was paused to provide a range of public health services. Notably, we reassigned staff to the HSE for essential contact tracing; to the Department of Social Protection for the processing of essential PUP payments, and to support the Department of Health with quarantine issues.

Notwithstanding those measures, we have continued to provide an emergency service for Foreign Birth Registration in cases of exceptional urgency, or where an applicant required the return of documents.

As with many other areas of public service provision, a backlog of applications has inevitably grown due to the COVID 19 disruptions of our normal processes. At present, there are just over 31,000 applications in the Foreign Births Registration system awaiting processing.

My Department is very concerned about this backlog situation and are actively planning to resume processing Foreign Birth Registration applications as soon as possible. We will be making a public announcement on specific dates in the coming weeks. My Department is committed to allocating further resources to this service to assist with the high volume of applications when regular processing resumes with a focus on reducing turnaround times to pre COVID-19 levels by the end of 2021. In the medium term, changes to the FBR process to increase efficiencies and improve the customer experience will be delivered under the next phase of my Departments Passport Reform Programme.

In cases of exceptional urgency applicants may continue to contact the Passport Service directly using email address: [e-mail].