Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 273: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason a passport was refused to a person (detail supplied) in County Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34924/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Passport Office may issue passports only to Irish citizens. As the child in question was born in the State after 1 January 2005, his entitlement to citizenship is governed by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 2004. Under the Act, a person born in the State after 1 January 2005, where neither parent is an Irish or British citizen, may claim citizenship by birth (and thereby establish eligibility for a passport) only where a parent has been lawfully resident in the State for three of the four years preceding his or her birth.

The child's father presented his passport to the Passport Office as proof of such required residence. However, an examination of that passport revealed that the period of lawful residence in the State was insufficient to meet the requirements of the Act. The Department has again reviewed this case, but the position remains that the Department is not authorised to grant a passport on the basis of the application and the documentation provided to date.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is responsible for issues of citizenship and immigration, including in particular the determination of any issues arising under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004. Accordingly, the child's parents may wish to correspond directly with that Department regarding the entitlement of the child to Irish citizenship.