Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and wish him well in his position. This Bill is simple but is necessary because it will put in place new procedures in the administration of passports. I have analysed the Minister of State's speech on this Bill. It is quite detailed and says we have a right to travel so we have a right to apply for a passport. The passport is a badge of our identity and citizenship. The Bill refers to a minimum period of residence, the new concept of biometric data, the quality of photographs required, the validity of passports, procedures for obtaining a passport in an emergency situation, changing the name on one's passport after marriage or gender realignment, for example, the grounds on which a passport may be refused in the area of common good and so on.

Regarding changes in issuing passports for children, the practice of having a child's name included on a parent's passport is discontinued. The Bill also referred to the changing structures of families and I am running through its provisions to illustrate the details of this proposed legislation and how much work has gone into every aspect of it. The Bill also covers lost and stolen passports and the penalties involved when a passport is cancelled. It also goes into the new appeals system that may be used if a passport is refused.

The Bill is detailed and necessarily reflects societal changes because we live in different times and the system for processing passports had to be modernised and reformed. There has been a rapid growth in international travel and a consequent increase in demand for passports. There have been huge advances in technology and we have had to deal with changes in international security requirements. We have machine readable passports and now we have the introduction of the biometric passports. These have been designed as extra safeguards to make it easy for the Irish citizen to travel abroad freely and with dignity. Therefore, it is necessary to modernise the passport system.

The Bill will bring about an improvement in the quality of service. Usually the issue of a passport takes ten working days. In the event of an emergency it can be provided within a much shorter timeframe and, perhaps, on a same day service, at an extra charge.

The Bill includes a provision that addresses the consent of parents who are living apart when dealing with the welfare of the children. Given the changes in society, children's names are no longer on a parent's passport. Where parents are living abroad and consent is withheld creates cumbersome difficulties. I am not sure the public understands how that provision will work. If they refuse it and are living in another country, a court order must be secured. It should be made clear the way in which this will ultimately be handled. If I was explaining the issue I would have some difficulty getting it into my own head. I ask the Minister of State to look at it again and how it is explained in the Passport Office.

We have to be sure that the children's welfare is protected at all times. In recent years we have had to deal with the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 disaster and hence the need for increasing emphasis on improving the identity of passports. I welcome the introduction of the biometric system. We have also had the Columbia Three incident, following which it is clearly necessary that specific legislation be introduced to cover these type of offences. The Bill also includes the offence and penalties for fraudulent applications for misuse and abuse of passports for human trafficking, crime and so on. I am glad to note that a special mechanism is in place to detect that misuse or abuse. Given the expanded EU, we all have greater freedom of travel, therefore, it is even more necessary today that the integrity of the document is protected.

In regard to biometric technology I understand that the processing of the application will deal with personal data and photographs. I am pleased the Minister of State said that the information will only be used for passport purposes and will not be shared with other agencies. I always worry when I read that the lines on one's face can be measured from photographs and that it will be known from previous photographs whether the photograph is of the individual, a makeshift of the individual or whatever. While I welcome it for the passport system I would not like it if my photograph was lamp-posted throughout the country.