Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD has questioned the effectiveness of Ireland’s citizenship requirements after establishing 26,400 people were granted Irish citizenship through naturalisation in 2025, compared with 377 refusals recorded in the response.
In response to a parliamentary question from Deputy Tóibín, the Department of Justice confirmed there were 187 refusals in 2024, and 129 in 2023. Applications granted in those years were 24,068 in 2024 and 18,279 in 2023.
The same parliamentary response confirmed that there is no statutory requirement for applicants to demonstrate English or Irish language proficiency, attend an interview or satisfy a financial self-sufficiency test.
The PQ response noted it was not possible to do a calculation on approval rates, because applications can be made the previous year. However with a clear pattern of a few hundred refusals, compared to tens of thousands of applications and grants, citizenship is almost given.
Tóibín said: “It is very difficult to reconcile an approval rate of this scale with a system that is supposed to apply a meaningful threshold before conferring citizenship. In 2025, the figures provided in response to my parliamentary question recorded 26,400 grants and just 377 refusals. “
“Over the 15-year period more than 230,000 people were granted citizenship, compared with approximately 7,010 refusals. These figures raise serious questions about the effectiveness of the current system and the standards being applied. Is the State is applying sufficiently robust and transparent criteria before granting this highly significant legal status?
“The Minister has confirmed that there is no statutory requirement for applicants to demonstrate proficiency in English or Irish, attend an interview or prove that they can support themselves financially. These are not minor administrative details. They are fundamental to integration, independence and standards expected of those seeking to become Irish citizens.”
“Citizenship should carry real meaning. Applicants should be expected to demonstrate good character, an appropriate level of integration, knowledge of the country whose citizenship they seek, and the ability to support themselves where reasonably required. These requirements should be clear, proportionate and consistently applied.
“Aontú has called for stronger citizenship requirements, including language, civics and financial self-sufficiency criteria. The Government’s stated plans to introduce additional requirements show that these issues can no longer be ignored. The question now is when these changes will be enacted and how effectively they will be implemented.”
“The Government must explain how it assesses applicants beyond the existing good-character requirements, publish comprehensive figures on grants, refusals, withdrawals and ineligible applications, and set out a clear timetable for introducing stronger statutory standards. Citizenship must not become a process in which approval is effectively the default outcome.”
