Written answers

Thursday, 22 February 2007

Department of Foreign Affairs

Passport Applications

6:00 pm

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim 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]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot 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.

YearLocationTotal Passports issuedLost or mislaidStolenTotal lost, mislaid or stolen% of total issued
2003Cork and Dublin467,65319,0002,80021,8004.66%
2004Cork and Dublin498,95620,0002,00022,0004.41%
2005World wide630,00031,5005,90037,4005.9%
2006World wide630,00032, 8205,91038,7306.15%

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