Written answers
Thursday, 22 February 2007
Department of Foreign Affairs
Passport Applications
6:00 pm
Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passports reported as lost and as stolen during each of the years 2003 to 2006. [7077/07]
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Prior to the introduction of the new Automatic Passport System (APS) in 2005, the figures for lost or mislaid and stolen passports are only available for Ireland. Since the introduction of centralised production with APS from 2005 onwards we can give worldwide figures.
The introduction of the biometric or e-Passport on 16 October, 2006 has greatly enhanced the security features of the Irish passport. The presence of a microchip, containing a digital image of the holder, has for instance meant that any photo substitution can now be more readily and easily detected.
The figures for lost or mislaid and stolen passports since 2003 are contained in the following table.
Year | Location | Total Passports issued | Lost or mislaid | Stolen | Total lost, mislaid or stolen | % of total issued |
2003 | Cork and Dublin | 467,653 | 19,000 | 2,800 | 21,800 | 4.66% |
2004 | Cork and Dublin | 498,956 | 20,000 | 2,000 | 22,000 | 4.41% |
2005 | World wide | 630,000 | 31,500 | 5,900 | 37,400 | 5.9% |
2006 | World wide | 630,000 | 32, 820 | 5,910 | 38,730 | 6.15% |
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