Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence, John Brady TD, has spoken of his continued frustration at the failure of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to get to grips with the issue of Foreign Births Registrations, despite offering assurances to the Wicklow TD in the Dáil.

Teachta Brady said:

“The Foreign Births Register (FBR) has been closed since the start of the pandemic. Prior to this there was a waiting time of approx. 18 months. That has now reached over two years.

“It is now well over a month since the Minister offered assurances to me in the Dáil chamber, that the FBR would be resumed within a short time.

“This delay would be bad enough without the fact that we are talking about real people, who are being impacted by the Minister’s failure.

“I am once again calling on the Minister to ensure that the FBR application service is reopened as soon as possible.

“It is all well and good pointing the finger at Covid as an excuse for not getting things done, but it is getting a bit ridiculous at this stage. The Minister needs to get a grip on his brief, and ensure the necessary resources are reallocated to the FBR, in order to allow it to be reopened.”