However, the Department of Foreign Affairs said waiting times for foreign-birth registered applications to be processed has reduced significantly over the past year.
The system allows the descendants of Irish people who have moved abroad to claim Irish citizenship.
People based in England currently account for the largest number of applicants, with about 16,500 seeking Irish citizenship.
The second-highest number comes from the US with 11,300, followed by Scotland and Canada (1,400 each) and Australia (1,300). There are also 800 applications from claimants currently based in Ireland as well as 600 each from New Zealand and South Africa.
Other countries with 100 or more applications for Irish citizenship are Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland, the UAE, Wales and the Channel Islands.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – April 4th
Individuals who are born outside Ireland can claim citizenship if one of their grandparents was born in Ireland.
People can also become an Irish citizen if one of their parents was an Irish citizen at the time of the applicant’s birth, even if the parent was not born in Ireland.
Foreign birth registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process
Similarly, individuals born outside Ireland can gain Irish citizenship through a parent who has obtained citizenship through naturalisation or post-nuptial citizenship.
In reply to a parliamentary question by Social Democrats TD for Kildare North Aidan Farrelly, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the time taken to process foreign birth registration applications was currently nine months.
Mr Harris said the average waiting time had reduced from over two-and-a-half years in 2023.
“This improvement is a result of the investment of significant extra resources to the foreign birth registration unit over the past two years,” he said.
“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.
“Applications are processed in the order in which they are submitted. Processing time begins when all supporting documents are received by the Passport Service, and applications that require further supporting documentation will take longer to process.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 36,000 applications were currently being processed by the Passport Service, with documentation awaited from 9,000 other applicants.
