Mr. Joseph Nugent:

I will finish with the questions of Senator Walsh, if he does not mind, because it will be a useful way to tie up some of the pieces. The Chairman asked about the link with the Department of Justice and Equality. Deputy Crowe referred to our relationship with An Garda Síochána and the applicant experience of dealing with An Garda Síochána. It is important to thank and recognise the members of An Garda Síochána, who provide invaluable assistance to us in many ways, not least through the witnessing process. I imagine in the list of things they have to do, this represents an extraordinary pressure. As a society, we are benefiting from the result of their assistance and involvement in the process. Deputy Crowe is absolutely correct that in many instances an individual may not be so well known with An Garda Síochána, but it has not emerged as a major problem for us. Where circumstances arise in which a person is in that category, we have processes around assisting individuals in establishing their identity. If people come forward to us in that area, it is something we can do. In general terms, it is fair to say it has not proved a major difficulty for us.

Notwithstanding that, I will pick up on Deputy Byrne's comments on fraudulent passports and the attempts at abusing passports. I pay thanks in particular to An Garda Síochána and the security service for their ongoing assistance in this area. This is done behind the scenes, for obvious reasons. We have close, productive and almost daily, if not weekly, meetings with An Garda Síochána on matters that emerge. The relationship is very positive and productive in this area.

The question of witnessing in Britain is certainly causing challenges. This week, extensions will be offered relating to the range of witnesses who may provide witnessing services in Britain. This is reflective of the increasing challenges and the slight differences in the way we approach passport witnessing here and overseas. In Ireland, we expect that the person is stating that he is satisfied as to his identity. In Britain, there is a different approach. It is a good deal more formal there and a person must be personally known to the witness. Certainly, we have encountered circumstances in which categories of individuals have found it difficult to get a witness in a range of sectors. We have done something to try to improve the process and help to make the issue more easily accessible for Irish residents in Britain. The availability of a passport express-type service in more locations throughout the country and a greater familiarity locally around the Irish passport issuing process will help in this regard. There will be a good deal more local awareness.

Since the process is rather centralised around our London operation, much of the work tends to be for people who are travelling distances. They come to our office in London, then realise they must get the form witnessed and then they run into difficulty in engaging with people who clearly will not be known. Those people are certainly rather cautious about witnessing. This is something we recognise and that we will try to address and deal with.

Deputy Byrne referred to the issue of names. It is most definitely a challenge. We have seen circumstances which we have managed to overcome with our colleagues in the Department of Justice and Equality involving someone who comes through the naturalisation process and perhaps whose first and second names have been switched or are in the wrong position. We have worked with people in those situations. What we try to do is maintain a link with the name by which the person was previously known. Therefore, people provide birth certificates from their country of birth or the passport from their country of residence to establish who they are. In those circumstances the problems tend not to arise.

I am also aware there are variations in spelling, especially around Arab names, if that is the politically correct phrase to use. There are names for which a slight subtlety in variation of spelling can cause a challenge or issue. Our primary responsibility is to ensure people are not trying to establish a second identity. If we can achieve that in partnership and by working with the individuals concerned, it is of great use to us.

The head scarf issue was raised. It is something we have dealt with in the application guides for those who apply. There are a set of guidelines on photographs. The level of rejects of passports for photograph reasons has reduced substantially in the past ten years.

Photographs became a serious issue in 2004 for the first time. In 2006 the introduction of the chip on the passport brought about a significant level of failure in passport applications because of photograph problems. That is not the biggest problem today. Most people who use the services of pharmacies have got used to setting up the photographs correctly. There are challenges in the international differences in the standard of photograph required. Passport photograph standards vary and a photograph that is accepted in one country for an online visa may not be accepted in another for a passport. The international community needs to do a little more work to overcome that problem. We will contribute to that process.