Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason a passport did not issue to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35984/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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An application for an Irish passport was submitted by the person's parents to the Passport Office at Balbriggan on 20 April, 2006. This application was made under the terms of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 2004. Under this Act, persons born in the State after 1 January 2005, where neither parent is an Irish or British citizen or otherwise entitled to reside without restriction in the State or in Northern Ireland, may claim citizenship by birth in the State (and thereby establish eligibility for a passport) only where a parent has been lawfully resident in the State for 3 years of the 4 years preceding their birth.

In the case of applications for passports arising from the terms of the 2004 Act, it is the practice of the Passport Service to seek evidence, in the form of official documentation, of lawful residence in the State by one or both parents. From the evidence provided in support of the application in question, the residency requirement was not met and as such the passport application could not be approved. The Department wrote to the applicant's parents and advised them of this decision on 29 April 2006.