6. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of naturalisation applications received in each year from 2020 to 2024, inclusive; the current average processing times for naturalisation applications; the measures being taken by his Department to further reduce application processing times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36655/25]

Sentiment score: 0.20

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is clear that the volume of applications has greatly increased over the last five years while processing times continue to fall year on year. This is very encouraging. The work of the Minister and his Department must be acknowledged in this regard. I appreciate that the Minister of State may not have the figures at hand. Does he have an indication of the likely number of applications in 2025? Is the number received in the first half of this year higher than the number received in 2024? If application numbers continue to rise, as the figures suggest, will the Minister give any consideration to further upgrading the citizenship application portal or appointing additional staff in the citizenship division?

Sentiment score: 0.31

We recently saw over 7,500 people conferred with Irish citizenship at ceremonies in Killarney. While this is a joyous step on their journey of becoming an Irish citizen, we have seen instances where certificates of naturalisation have taken considerable time to arrive following the ceremony. Unfortunately, this can cause undue problems for the applicants when applying for a passport or seeking to pay third level fees ahead of an upcoming academic year. Can the Minister of State advise on the current waiting time to receive a certificate of naturalisation after attending a naturalisation ceremony and the actions being taken by the Department to ensure that these times are kept to a minimum?

Sentiment score: 0.08