Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 317: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a person (details supplied) in County Carlow qualifies for a passport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41481/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Passport Office may only issue passports to Irish citizens. Accordingly, each application is considered with reference to Irish citizenship law and more recently with the provisions of the Passports Act, 2008. The person in question was born in the State on 8 February, 2007. Her entitlement to citizenship is governed by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 2004 ("the 2004 Act"). Section 6A of the 2004 Act provides that persons born in the State on or after 1 January, 2005, where neither parent is an Irish or a British citizen or otherwise entitled to reside in the State or Northern Ireland without restriction, may claim citizenship by birth in the State (and thereby establish eligibility for a passport) only where the parent has been lawfully resident in the State for 3 of the 4 years preceding their birth.

At the time of the birth of the person concerned, her mother was a Dutch national. Section 6B(2) of the 2004 Act makes particular provision for parents from EU Member States whereby such nationals may make a declaration in a prescribed form concerning their residence in the island of Ireland within the 4 years preceding the child's birth. This declaration is supported by the submission of the parent's EU passport and by documentary evidence of that parent's residence in Ireland. That non-Irish citizen parent will then be regarded as having resided in the island of Ireland for the declared periods for the purposes of s6A, unless the contrary is proved.

The Passport Office in Balbriggan has received two applications for this person. The first of these was made in March, 2007 while the second was received in April of this year. In both applications, the submitted evidence of residence in Ireland in respect of the parent who is the EU national has been insufficient to demonstrate the child's entitlement to Irish citizenship. Accordingly, the Passport Office is not in a position to issue a passport to her. It should be noted that there has been considerable correspondence between the Head of the Passport Office in Balbriggan and the applicant's mother and the family solicitors. This correspondence has outlined the position above to them. The Head of the Passport Office in Balbriggan remains available to explain any detail that is still unclear to the applicant's mother. His contact details are 01.673.3215 or kevin.walzer@dfa.ie.