Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

Section 14(1) provides that the consent of all guardians must be sought before issuance of a passport to a child or alternatively, as provided for in section 14(3), a court order dispensing with consent must be obtained. Under the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 married parents are joint guardians of their children. By contrast, the father of a child born outside marriage is not automatically the guardian of his child. Where a father is not a guardian of a child, he may apply to the District Court to be appointed guardian, or he may become guardian by making a statutory declaration with the child's mother, agreeing to his appointment as guardian. These options apply whether he is named on the child's birth certificate.

Where a father becomes guardian, his consent must be obtained prior to the issue of a passport in the same way as the consent of any other guardians must be obtained. Additionally, section 14(2) permits the Minister to take account of the circumstances of a case in deciding whether to issue a passport to a child without the consent of a non-guardian parent. This discretion will allow the Minister to consider the views and rights of non-guardian parents in so far as these are known to him or her.

I appreciate the intentions behind amendment No. 6. However, changing the rights of a non-guardian parent is a family law matter. The Passports Bill is designed to regulate the passports service, and it is not an appropriate vehicle in which to introduce changes in family law. Such matters are best handled by other Departments.

Similarly, amendment No. 7 deals with issues outside the remit of the Passports Bill. The amendment seeks to impose restrictions on the removal of a child from the State. I understand the Senators' intention, but it is not appropriate to include it in legislation dealing with the administration of the passport service — and I cannot accept its inclusion in the Bill.