DÍOSPÓIREACHTAÍ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES DÁIL ÉIREANN DÁIL ÉIREANN TUAIRISC OIFIGIÚIL (OFFICIAL REPORT) Déardaoin, 01 Deireadh Fómhair 2026 Thursday, 01 October 2026 Vol. 1091 No. 5 Citizenship Applications

209. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a child born to an Irish parent abroad is entitled to Irish citizenship where the parent was also born abroad; the circumstances in which that birth must be registered in the Foreign Births Register in order to obtain a passport; if the requirement to register the birth in the Foreign Births Register to obtain a passport is waived in cases where the child has grandparents who are Irish citizens born in Ireland or in cases where there is difficulty obtaining a passport from another country to allow the child to travel home to Ireland. [69573/26]

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation.

If a person was born outside of Ireland, they may become an Irish citizen if:

• One of their grandparents was born in Ireland, or;

• One of their parents was an Irish citizen at the time of the person’s birth, even though that parent was not born in Ireland.

In these cases, a person can apply to become an Irish citizen through Foreign Birth Registration. Such applicants must be entered on the Foreign Birth Register before they can apply for a passport.

My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications. FBR applications are currently being processed within a turnaround time of 12 months from receipt of supporting documents. Applications that require further supporting documents will take longer to process.

Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate.

The FBR service operates a transparent general policy of processing applications in order of receipt except in cases of exceptional urgency, such as expectant parents, or stateless persons.

Should assistance be required with a FBR application, our Customer Service agents are available through phone and webchat services, from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. They can be contacted at +353 1 671 1633, or via the webchat service: www.ireland.ie/contactpassportservice.

Further information on Foreign Birth Registration eligibility and the application process is available on my Department’s website at www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/citizenship.